Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell was a key player to watch in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
And last year’s NCAA Tournament.
But if you didn’t see him live in college, it’s too late now. Ditto Louisville teammate Terry Rozier.
Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal:U of L coach Rick Pitino said Rozier’s decision is tied to family concerns.
“Terry looks at home and sees his mom working two jobs, and she’s going 16, 17 hours a day,” Pitino told reporters Monday. “And he says, ‘OK, maybe I wouldn’t be drafted as high as I would be if I waited one more year, but I’d rather sacrifice that for my mom not having to work two jobs.’”
Junior forward Montrezl Harrell, who participated in “senior day” activities in U of L’s final home game of the season, also plans to enter the draft as expected, Pitino said.
“They’re both leaving, yes -- 100 percent,” Pitino said. “And it’s the right thing to do for both of them. You all may have some doubts about Terry, but I don’t.”
That’s a nice reminder from Pitino about how little we know about the most-important issues when it comes to a player determining whether or not to turn pro. That’s why I almost always give the player the benefit of doubt when he declares for the raft.
Rozier is on the first/second-round bubble. He’s a scoring point guard, but he doesn’t shoot particularly efficiently, and his 6-foot-2 height will require more distributing skills in the NBA than he has shown. He’s long and athletic, and someone will draft him and try to polish his game.
Harrell will probably go in the first round, maybe in the lottery. He’s a real energy player, but as a 6-foot-8 power forward that might not be enough. He lacks range on his jumper, and his scoring is limited to finishing at the rim on cuts and putbacks. Troublingly, he hasn’t shown a great nose for the ball going for rebounds. A common comparison is Kenneth Faried, but Faried does a much better job positioning himself for rebounds.