Caveman Catfan
07-16-2006, 07:55 AM
Reasonable people expected their names dropped at this year's NBA Draft. Then it would be off to a summer league, the first step on the proving ground for pro basketball players. After all, the core of Florida's national championship team had done it all in 2005.
Yet there were Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green at the Nike All-America Camp as counselors to the high school stars. So was unheralded teammate Chris Richard. The most celebrated teammate, Joakim Noah, did not work the Nike Camp, but he, too, will return to the Gators next season.
What a message those Florida players could convey to the high school stars.
Florida Coach Billy Donovan put it this way: "They chose their happiness playing with one another, staying in college and enjoying their experience over the pressure of I've got to do this because of the money."
Having lost such players as Donnell Harvey, Mike Miller, Kwame Brown, Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh to early entry into the draft, Donovan knows well that "society has told us in the past you never turn down the money."
These Florida players are exceptional. For Noah, Horford and Green, their fathers were professional athletes who could put flesh-and-blood perspective in the NBA dream.
"They know it's not all it's cracked up to be," Donovan said. "That it's a job. It's a responsibility."
-more-
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/15049523.htm
Yet there were Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green at the Nike All-America Camp as counselors to the high school stars. So was unheralded teammate Chris Richard. The most celebrated teammate, Joakim Noah, did not work the Nike Camp, but he, too, will return to the Gators next season.
What a message those Florida players could convey to the high school stars.
Florida Coach Billy Donovan put it this way: "They chose their happiness playing with one another, staying in college and enjoying their experience over the pressure of I've got to do this because of the money."
Having lost such players as Donnell Harvey, Mike Miller, Kwame Brown, Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh to early entry into the draft, Donovan knows well that "society has told us in the past you never turn down the money."
These Florida players are exceptional. For Noah, Horford and Green, their fathers were professional athletes who could put flesh-and-blood perspective in the NBA dream.
"They know it's not all it's cracked up to be," Donovan said. "That it's a job. It's a responsibility."
-more-
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/15049523.htm
