2008 Woodie Awards
Thabeet's Close Call
Men's Basketball: Center Did Not Decide On Return Until Last Minute
Dan Olender
Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Sports
The deadline to declare for the NBA Draft was Sunday.
Had that deadline been two weeks sooner, Hasheem Thabeet would not have been in Gampel Pavilion yesterday practicing in a UConn jersey. He would have been preparing for the NBA.
Thabeet said yesterday that he finally decided to return to UConn for his junior season "maybe two days ago" and that he wouldn't have made that same decision two weeks ago.
"If I had to make a decision at that time, I probably would have left," he said. "I just figured out it was hype talk. Everybody was talking about how I did this year compared to last year, and it got into my head, but I didn't want to feel like I was jumping to what people said."
From the information he gathered, head coach Jim Calhoun said he thought Thabeet would be drafted somewhere between picks No. 15 and No. 20 in the first round.
"I knew a couple teams that really liked him … Both teams thought he'd be a great fit for them at this point," Calhoun said.
Despite scouts telling him how much they liked him and how they thought he should declare, Thabeet took the time to speak with coaches, players and family members to help make this decision.
The biggest push came from Thabeet's mother, who told her son he should stay in college another year, despite the difficult times facing their family back in Tanzania.
"My mom told me I can do what's best for me and I decided to come back to school," Thabeet said. "We have financial hard times out there, but she told me they weathered my first year and they can wait for one more year."
Calhoun expressed his excitement about Thabeet's decision, but he also acknowledged how difficult a choice it was given the 7-foot-3 center's family concerns.
"He promised his father at 15, when his father died, that he was going to take care of his family," Calhoun said. "He does have a younger brother, he does have a sister and obviously a mother. So he does have responsibilities above and beyond the average kid."
Had that deadline been two weeks sooner, Hasheem Thabeet would not have been in Gampel Pavilion yesterday practicing in a UConn jersey. He would have been preparing for the NBA.
Thabeet said yesterday that he finally decided to return to UConn for his junior season "maybe two days ago" and that he wouldn't have made that same decision two weeks ago.
"If I had to make a decision at that time, I probably would have left," he said. "I just figured out it was hype talk. Everybody was talking about how I did this year compared to last year, and it got into my head, but I didn't want to feel like I was jumping to what people said."
From the information he gathered, head coach Jim Calhoun said he thought Thabeet would be drafted somewhere between picks No. 15 and No. 20 in the first round.
"I knew a couple teams that really liked him … Both teams thought he'd be a great fit for them at this point," Calhoun said.
Despite scouts telling him how much they liked him and how they thought he should declare, Thabeet took the time to speak with coaches, players and family members to help make this decision.
The biggest push came from Thabeet's mother, who told her son he should stay in college another year, despite the difficult times facing their family back in Tanzania.
"My mom told me I can do what's best for me and I decided to come back to school," Thabeet said. "We have financial hard times out there, but she told me they weathered my first year and they can wait for one more year."
Calhoun expressed his excitement about Thabeet's decision, but he also acknowledged how difficult a choice it was given the 7-foot-3 center's family concerns.
"He promised his father at 15, when his father died, that he was going to take care of his family," Calhoun said. "He does have a younger brother, he does have a sister and obviously a mother. So he does have responsibilities above and beyond the average kid."
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Lame
posted 4/29/08 @ 1:10 PM EST
FYI. many students at UConn are left with the task of taking care of their families fiancially. I sure wouldn't be praising this basketball player simply because he has to take care of family members. (Continued…)
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