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Dynasty or dollars? A national championship or a Nike endorsement? School pride or stupidity?
Now those are not the questions players ask themselves before deciding to declare early into the NBA Draft, but maybe these are the things that they should consider.
Then again this may go to show why players leave college early, not so much because of their amount of talent but their lack of intelligence. By now everyone knows that the chances of North Carolina repeating as National Champions are about as good as the chances of 50 Cent winning that NAACP Image Award. This week, Ray Felton, Sean May and Marvin Williams all declared for the draft, which leaves Quentin Thomas as the only player who even started a game for UNC last season.
So they won a national championship. OK, they were probably one of the best recruiting classes Chapel Hill has ever seen, but they damn sure ain’t the brightest. All three along with Rashad McCants really have no business going into the NBA. No, this is not me hating on them, but it’s more or less, looking at reality.
See, for those of us who have actually been watching Carolina since the days when Kenny Smith was running the point instead of TNT, we know that three years ago, hell, even last season, this was not a team that would have had a single first-rounder. Now, you mean to tell me that they now have four guys, one of which came off the bench for most of the season ready to go at it in the NBA?
I know money is a wonderful thing but so is common sense. Felton realistically may be the only one who is ready. It’s safe to say that without Ray, that team does not function, and if you think I’m wrong, just ask Santa Clara. As for May, McCants and Marvin, stay in school. Take Marvin for example. There were times during the tournament when he was in the post, he couldn’t handle the ball.
My final reason for why none of these guys aren’t leaving is this: Roy Williams. In case these guys hadn’t noticed, it’s not as if Roy is a newcomer to the task of coaching awesome talent and making them better.
Plus, unlike most coaches today, Roy played at, coached at, lived at, breathed at and will probably die at Carolina. All the man has done everywhere he has gone, whether it be as an assistant to Dean Smith or taking over for Larry Brown at Kansas, has been grooming and winning with some of the game’s best talent.
So please Roy, for the love of Chapel Hill, stay at Carolina. The NBA will always be there but getting better at the game by learning from one of the game’s greatest minds, doesn’t happen that often.
Bangor Daily News