McGee made correct choice
JaVale McGee’s future has nothing to do with Nevada basketball.
Sure, it’s disappointing that one of the most gifted big men in the country will be training for the NBA Draft instead of an NCAA Tournament run in the next couple months, but McGee did the right thing in heading to the NBA.
This is about his future and I find it hard to believe passing up guaranteed millions was in his best interest.
If somebody offered me $3 million to write about sports, I’d be on a plane out of Reno tomorrow.
The point of college is to prepare young men and women for the opportunity to achieve their dreams and give them the tools needed to ensure a stable income.
McGee might not have a degree, but his two years with the Wolf Pack have accomplished that goal.
Besides, he should be able to afford the rest of his credits if things in the League don’t work out.
We can talk all day about his maturity or about how raw his skills are, but the bottom line is that McGee has more potential than any big man in the draft.
Aside from being 7-foot-1, with a 7-foot-6 wingspan, McGee has a huge vertical, runs the floor like a guard, can handle and shoot, and has a frame that suggests he can put on a bunch of weight without losing his athleticism.
Quite simply, no player in the country can offer McGee’s upside.
And I disagree with any accusations that McGee was a selfish player who didn’t play hard. Surely, there are holes in his game, but McGee played with passion.
That’s one of the things scouts love about him. It’s also what will help him be closer to Tim Duncan than Stromile Swift on the NBA-big man radar.
The only debate here is how much he could have gained by staying an extra year. Maybe he’d have led the Wolf Pack to the Final Four next season and gone in the top five.
That was certainly a possibility.
And that’s sort of the point.
People are always going to wonder what could have been, and that’s why McGee’s move might seem questionable.
McGee showed tremendous improvement from last season to this season, and there’s reason to believe he couldn’t do the same thing again. In fact, McGee was flat out dominant for much of the end of the season.
With a talented group of returning players and McDonald’s All-American Luke Babbitt headlining a recruiting class that includes another top-100 player in Mark McLaughlin, a former top-100 player Joey Shaw and late riser London “Cotton” Giles, next year’s team had a chance to be special.
They still do, even with McGee gone. The loss is going to hurt, but the Wolf Pack’s program is bigger than one player.
Fans might have found a bit more comfort in knowing the big man was working on his game at Lawlor Events Center as opposed to getting more experience in the D-League while practicing against professionals every day, but Nevada coach Mark Fox has plenty of scorers coming back to compensate.
He also has two scholarships left and enough time to fill them because McGee made his decision early. Given Fox’s track record, you have to like the possibility.
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© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
April 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am
Garrett, I totally agree. Those people out there that are saying he won’t be drafted in first round or even second is crazy. They’re also saying that he should stay and get better. Sure he’ll get better the next two years, but the man will get alot better the next two years playing for an NBA team, whether that’s at the D-league level or not. The NBA is much better at making players better than any college program in the country. McGee is going to be an absolute stud at the NBA level, whether it’s 2 years from now or 5.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Life is not all about money, Garrett. Remember, a man should not worry about the material things, but about the wellness of his soul. That being said, his jump to the NBA was about as unexpected as tomorrow being Tuesday. He made the right decision for his immediate financial future.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Where is the story on how he got drafted by Washington, guys? I know someone’s helping the Sagebrush this summer, right?