So we guess that that source who told the Chron that DeVon Hardin would stay in the NBA Draft was a little overzealous. Maybe. Just a little bit.
The Mercury-News is reporting that Hardin, though he thinks he can be a first-round draft pick, has taken his name out of the NBA Draft and will return to Cal for his senior season.
bq. “It’d probably be in the early to late 20s, in that range,” the 6-foot-11 junior said of his projected 2007 draft status. “The kind of thing I was hearing was that I was in the mix with a couple guys. That means there’s no gaurantees. I feel like I can make that even better if I go back to school.”
Now his dad, Michael, thinks he can be a lottery pick in next year’s draft.
But let’s just forget about the draft now and talk about what this means for Ben Braun’s Bears.
Now Ryan Anderson won’t have to worry about guarding an opposing team’s best low-post threat. And with Hardin back, Cal gets one of the Pac-10’s best low-post defenders. No scrawny guard will want to venture into the paint if Hardin’s down there guarding the basket.
With Hardin back, we’re going to suggest that the Bears won’t be cellar-dwellers. But how will they fare? If Hardin can actually improve his offensive game, then Cal will be in the top half of the conference. If not? Then … the Ben Braun’s Bears won’t be cellar-dwellers.
Image Source: Julie Himes, Daily Cal
Earlier: Breaking: Hardin Will Sign With Agent, Remain in Draft
Hardin chooses to stay at Cal [Mercury-News]
With all the speculation of whether DeVon Hardin is going to actually go pro or stay in school (he has 15 days before he can take himself out of the NBA Draft), it’s been pretty hard to gauge Hardin’s thinking. Until now.
This is what Hardin told Inside Bay Area News the other day:
bq. Unless I’m that No.1 pick, Cal is going to be a top option for me. It’s a good option for me. I want to take my team deep into the tournament, maybe to the Final Four, be a lottery pick … I expect great things from this team.
Right. We expect great things also. (Read: No, we don’t). More on that later.
So it looks like Hardin’s going to come back to Cal, because we all know that he’s not going to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
Hardin will visit nine cities and meet with 16 teams in the next two weeks, trying out for scouts and trying to woo them with his great defensive ability and hustle on the offensive side of the ball.
But he wants to take Ben Braun’s Bears deep in the tournament? We know most people here at UC Berkeley are ambitious. They have dreams. They want to be future leaders and all that bullshit. But taking Cal (a team coached by Ben Braun mind you) deep in the tournament is close to impossible as Marshawn Lynch coming back to play for the Bears football team next year.
Sure Ryan Anderson is a poor-man’s Dirk Nowitzki. Sure Ayinde Ubaka is long gone. But reaching the Final Four? Along with being the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, it’s all locked up for Hardin. (Read: Never in a million years).
Earlier: Hardin Really a First Rounder? ESPN Thinks So
Hardin set to woo pros, but figures to stay at Cal [Inside Bay Area]
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