Hats off to Darren Collison

[Russ Smith]

Like Hansbrough he decided to return for his senior year. I'm stunned he didn't test the waters but great for UCLA it guarantees they won't have to start 2 freshmen at guard next year. Figures to be DC and Jrue Holiday unless Westbrook comes back too but that appears doubtful. Huge positive surprise for UCLA that DC decided to come back.

Contrast that with USC which finds out not only is Davon Jefferson declaring, he's hiring Arn Tellem as an agent so he can't come back.

 

[Skkorpion]

Another good kid making a good decision. Wish he had turned pro. I'm sick of his clutch play and good defense for UCLA.

 

[bko32]

Wow, I'm surprised that he didn't at least declare without an agent to test the waters. I wonder if the feedback from NBA people essentially forced him to stay or if there were other reasons. I have to imagine his stock dropped dramatically in the tournament this year. Good for the Bruins though.

This almost assures that Westbrook is gone. Howland had projected Westbrook to play PG next year, but now with Collison back, he might as well enter the NBA and learn on the job.

 

[Russ Smith]

Wow, I'm surprised that he didn't at least declare without an agent to test the waters. I wonder if the feedback from NBA people essentially forced him to stay or if there were other reasons. I have to imagine his stock dropped dramatically in the tournament this year. Good for the Bruins though.

This almost assures that Westbrook is gone. Howland had projected Westbrook to play PG next year, but now with Collison back, he might as well enter the NBA and learn on the job.

That was actually a miscommunication with Howland and the media he said Westbrook would play PG next year but when asked what if Collison came back he said I guess it would be the same with more depth. People took that to mean Westbrook was playing PG with DC either as a SG or a backup behind Holiday.

When asked to clarify that Howland said that's not what he meant he meant it would be the same as this past year(westbrook and collison together).

I'm sure the tourney hurt his stock getting overwhelmed by Rose after the bad WK game too. That said I also wonder if Collison was ever 100% the whole season he had the knee injury, then he had a hip pointer, and then a bad shoulder that he played with all through the tourney(2nd year in a row he had that injury). I think it's likely he'll be a better player next year just on health alone.

But I'm sure if scouts were projecting him into the lottery he'd have filed.

 

[bko32]

I didn't mean to imply that Collison would backup Westbrook next season. Since many have projected Westbrook as a PG in the NBA, I would think that Westbrook would want to put in lots of time at that position if he were to return to UCLA. However, with Collison returning, Westbrook will end up playing more at the SG spot. For that reason, it doesn't benefit Westbrook's future as an NBA PG if he were to return to UCLA.

 

[Russ Smith]

I didn't mean to imply that Collison would backup Westbrook next season. Since many have projected Westbrook as a PG in the NBA, I would think that Westbrook would want to put in lots of time at that position if he were to return to UCLA. However, with Collison returning, Westbrook will end up playing more at the SG spot. For that reason, it doesn't benefit Westbrook's future as an NBA PG if he were to return to UCLA.

Agreed. In fact some think that Westbrook probably decided to go because he had an idea Collison was staying. Hard to say the earlier comments from Howland sure sounded liek he expected Collison to leave and was hopnig that Westbrook would stay, instead the exact opposite seems to be happening.

Still huge for UCLA to retain DC the incoming guards are all very talented but it's tough to win with 3 freshmen guards playing major minutes so having a senior like Collison to start is a huge coup.

Weird how things play out. Last year when Ryan Wright transferred to Oklahoma the rumor was he left because he was afraid Kevin Love would stay 2 years and Wright would never get a chance to start at UCLA as a result. So he transfers to OU, sits out a year and now is going to probably be stuck behind Blake Griffin who didn't turn pro. Meanwhile if Wright were still at UCLA he'd have a legit chance to be the starting C this year as a senior.