2008 Woodie Awards
NCAA Tournament Improves Draft Positions
Steve Conoscenti Staff Reporter
Issue date: 4/7/05 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 2 next >
To some college basketball players, having a good game in the NCAA tournament means more than just getting their team to the next round.
One of the most talked about - and most endorsed - athletes in professional sports never went to college and currently isn't even of age to purchase alcohol. Of course, that would be Lebron James.
That's the way things go today in the NBA draft. One strong season either in high school, college, or even overseas, and a player's chances at becoming an NBA player rise drastically.
For example, the last time a college player was drafted with the first pick in the NBA draft was 2000 (Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati). Since then, three high school seniors and one foreigner have been chosen at the top spot.
2005 may be the first year since the start of the new millennium that a college player will be chosen with the first pick. His strong performance throughout the season and especially in the tournament, carrying his sixth-seeded Utah Utes to the Sweet Sixteen, may help his chances.
If you watch ESPN at all, you've seen his name on the Bottomline scroller after every Utah game, usually with double digit numbers following the words "points" and "rebounds."
This of course is Andrew Bogut, the seven-foot sophomore from Melbourne, Australia. Many sites that specialize in the NBA draft, such as NBAdraft.net, foresee Andrew Bogut as going first in the draft without question.
His tournament performance may have solidified his case.
He recorded double-doubles in all three of the tournament games the Utes played this year and missed a triple-double by only three assists against Oklahoma in the second game of the tournament. Bogut helped the Utes upset two opponents before getting eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen by the Kentucky Wildcats.
His averages for the tournament was 18 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game, and played all 40 minutes of all three games. His season averages were 20.4 points per game and 12.2 points per game, averages that make most NBA teams drool.
One of the most talked about - and most endorsed - athletes in professional sports never went to college and currently isn't even of age to purchase alcohol. Of course, that would be Lebron James.
That's the way things go today in the NBA draft. One strong season either in high school, college, or even overseas, and a player's chances at becoming an NBA player rise drastically.
For example, the last time a college player was drafted with the first pick in the NBA draft was 2000 (Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati). Since then, three high school seniors and one foreigner have been chosen at the top spot.
2005 may be the first year since the start of the new millennium that a college player will be chosen with the first pick. His strong performance throughout the season and especially in the tournament, carrying his sixth-seeded Utah Utes to the Sweet Sixteen, may help his chances.
If you watch ESPN at all, you've seen his name on the Bottomline scroller after every Utah game, usually with double digit numbers following the words "points" and "rebounds."
This of course is Andrew Bogut, the seven-foot sophomore from Melbourne, Australia. Many sites that specialize in the NBA draft, such as NBAdraft.net, foresee Andrew Bogut as going first in the draft without question.
His tournament performance may have solidified his case.
He recorded double-doubles in all three of the tournament games the Utes played this year and missed a triple-double by only three assists against Oklahoma in the second game of the tournament. Bogut helped the Utes upset two opponents before getting eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen by the Kentucky Wildcats.
His averages for the tournament was 18 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game, and played all 40 minutes of all three games. His season averages were 20.4 points per game and 12.2 points per game, averages that make most NBA teams drool.