UF Basketball

[bullwark]

Advice and consent

In a conversation at the Nike All-America Camp, Florida Coach Billy Donovan seemed frustrated with the P.R. beating taken by his two stars, Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh. The two have become the poster boys for college players who won't listen to reason.

Each defied conventional wisdom by entering the NBA Draft, burned bridges by hiring agents and then went unselected.

Contrary to popular perception, Walsh and Roberson listened to Donovan, the coach said. They knew they might be better positioned in the 2006 draft. They simply chose to enter the draft anyway.

"Nobody said (Walsh) would be taken in the first round," Donovan said. "Nobody advised him to go. Matt said, 'It's all my doing.' ... Ultimately, it's his life. I think you have to respect his decision."

Donovan advised Walsh to return to Florida.

"He told me a lot of prominent GMs said, 'You can play in the NBA,'" Donovan said. "I said, 'Great. I think so, too. But are they going to take you this year?'"

Walsh hired an agent to help set up workouts. "He needed somebody to do the leg work," the Florida coach said.

Roberson felt he had accomplished all that he could on the college level, said Donovan, who described the player's frame of mind as "How much better is it going to get for me?"

Donovan said his approach is to give advice and then to support whatever decisions his players make.

To those who ask if coaches approve of these college-or-pro decisions, he said:

"Us? The better question is, Are the parents OK with their decisions?"

[bulls96go]

not bad billy boy

[Markeymark]

Roberson felt he had accomplished all that he could on the college level, said Donovan, who described the player's frame of mind as "How much better is it going to get for me?"

You haven't accomplished all you can unless you stay for four years, get your degree and be a leader on the team for the underclassmen. This kid's problem is that he's thinking too much about the name on the back of the uniform and not enough about the name on the front. I guess now he will never find out how much better it would have been. Have fun in the NBDL! Think about college life while you're riding a bus around the rural south making $12,000 a year in the minor leagues.