Napier, Boat, And Daniels:

[aceboon]

Hasheem never had any intentions of returning after his junior season, dude was being spotted at Miami Heat games and in the Page 6 of the NY rags spotted at nightclubs right after the season was over.

I believe Thabeet was torn between providing money for his family back home and staying in college to refine his game. Pretty sure Calhoun told him to capitalize on his draft value his Junior year to take the guaranteed millions. Realistically Thabeet was never going to be a star even if he came back one more year so it's hard to argue with leaving and being drafted that high given his family's financial situation.

Having said that, I don't know if Thabeet was leaning towards coming back or not. I imagine he wanted to go for the money but knew he wasn't ready and Calhoun encouraged him to put his family first. I think that was the right move.

Edit: In terms of legit NBA stars/starters, I can't help you out there. Everyone I think of was pretty much a lock to go (BG, EO, RH etc.). Actually now that I put Rip in that list I feel like I remember seeing he almost left after his Sophomore year but was talked into returning which was probably a good move (for him, not just because we got our first title out of it). I could be mistaken though, I was 7 at the end of his Sophomore year.

 

[DoronElAmin]

I don't see either of them going to the league next year. We saw the doubts about even Kemba due to his size, the scorer and leader that he was. The NBA has a lot bigger and better bigs than the Big East (even if bigs at all levels of basketball are dwindling in number and importance)... Shabazz has yet to demonstrate consistently that he can get to the hole and settles for bad shots way too frequently. Boatright is more athletic and can get to the hoop more consistently; but given that he's 5 11, he's going to need to have some HUGE games to convince NBA scouts that he can play at the next level, even with his athleticism. I think the main point here is just that both of them are small... it's getting harder and harder to be an NBA pg if you're under 6 1 or so.

 

[dapriest]

Spoken like a true lawyer, never admitting they are wrong even when admitting they are wrong.

Nothing to do with lawyer.
When I am wrong, I admit I am wrong.
If I'm making a general point, and I use a specific fact to support that general point, and the specific fact is wrong, then I admit that.
But just because a specific supporting fact is wrong doesn't mean the general point is wrong.
If, for example, I was arguing that OJ was guilty and I said that the murder gloves fit him at trial, and it turns out that I was wrong, it doesn't mean that the point that OJ was guilty is lost.

My point is this - any coach will have a bias against giving a kid advice on going pro.
You're not going to see the bias in obvious cases. Should Calipari have advised Anthony Davis to go pro?

When it's a close call, personal bias matters.

Maybe JC is the very rare bird that could put aside all self interest.

I haven't met 2 men my whole life who I would trust to put aside all bias in that sort of case.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Nothing to do with lawyer.
When I am wrong, I admit I am wrong.
If I'm making a general point, and I use a specific fact to support that general point, and the specific fact is wrong, then I admit that.
But just because a specific supporting fact is wrong doesn't mean the general point is wrong.
If, for example, I was arguing that OJ was guilty and I said that the murder gloves fit him at trial, and it turns out that I was wrong, it doesn't mean that the point that OJ was guilty is lost.

My point is this - any coach will have a bias against giving a kid advice on going pro.
You're not going to see the bias in obvious cases. Should Calipari have advised Anthony Davis to go pro?

When it's a close call, personal bias matters.

Maybe JC is the very rare bird that could put aside all self interest.

I haven't met 2 men my whole life who I would trust to put aside all bias in that sort of case.

While I would generally agree with your general point, I would hope that Calhoun might be one of those guys who, when the chips are down, could identify their self-interest and minimize its impact. The way so many of his players come back makes me think that they recognize a capacity in him to care about their well-being.

 

[mauconnfan]

I don't see Boat caring about that at all. I think he bolts for the NBA at the first realistic opportunity -- and I think that means if he's projected as a 1st-rounder (even though, of course, about 50 guys are projected as 1st-rounders) he's gone.

I imagine there are a lot of voices in his ear encouraging him to take the money and not a lot of voices encouraging him to stay in school.

Problem is the "money" for him will not be guaranteed for long if at all based on where he gets drafted......he wants to play in the NBA not in Europe........if he leaves too early he could get lost in the shuffle and end up in Denmark........KO has ties to the people to help guide these kids in the right direction I'm sure......

While he is a supremely talented player he has not shown the consistency to be a high draft pick as of yet. He is only a soph so let's see him grow and become a star before we see him walk out the door.......think he likes where he is a little more than we may believe!