Friday, May 07, 2004
Pitino's Pissed
After learning that Southeastern Illinois Community College's Donta Smith will (attempt to) follow Sebastian Telfair into the NBA. Take it away, coach:"It could be one of the five worst moves I've ever seen...If it's the right decision, I'll tell a player I have no problem with it. This one I totally disagree with. Somebody is giving him advice who doesn't know anything about the game of basketball...He never called and discussed it with me. I couldn't be more upset with the player, and I'm very, very disappointed with the (junior-college) coach. That's as poor a leadership from the coach as I've ever seen."
Donta is rated among the nations' best junior college players, but he's expected to be a second round pick.
Let's hope his luck is better than recent juco early entrants.
The list of players who have recently tried to make the NBA from two-year schools includes Qyntel Woods, Kedrick Brown, Ernest Brown, Cory Hightower and Tim Cole. Woods and Kedrick Brown were both first-round picks; both have been marginal NBA players at best. Cole went undrafted, and Hightower and Ernest Brown washed out.
