Quentin Richardson isn’t ready to tip his hand about whether he will forego his last two years of college and take his chances in the NBA draft, despite reports that his mind is all but made up.
“It’s not far off, but nothing is official yet,” the DePaul sophomore said Monday.
“A lot of people say I should stay in college and be a kid. The way I look at it, whichever way the decision goes, I’ll be experiencing a lot more than the average 19- or 20-year-old.”
Richardson said he doesn’t feel particularly stressed by the speculation because he considers himself to be in a no-lose situation. The former Whitney Young High School standout also said he isn’t yearning to escape from the close scrutiny and occasional criticism that marked his second year as a Blue Demon and leader of a team climbing back up the competitive ladder. High expectations were in place well before the first tip-off, beginning with his selection as pre-season Conference USA player of the year and a cover shot for ESPN magazine.
“That could happen anywhere you go to school,” said Richardson, whose recruitment two years ago was viewed as the first step in restoring credibility to a struggling program. “It may have been more intense (because he was playing in his hometown), but I don’t look at it as negative and I don’t get up in the morning hating the media.”
Richardson has been projected as a potential mid- to late-first round draft pick by a number of analysts should he decide to leave college. The 6-6, 215-pound swingman, who seriously contemplated jumping to the pros last year as well, started all 33 of DePaul’s games in 1999-2000 and led the team in minutes (34.8), points per game (17) and rebounds per game (9.8). The Blue Demons finished 21-12, falling to Saint Louis in the Conference USA title game and losing to Kansas in overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
May 14 is the deadline for early entry into the June 28 NBA draft, but underclassmen who have declared themselves available for the draft may change their minds and withdraw until a week before without forfeiting the NCAA eligibility. Ten underclassmen have announced their intention to jump, including Richardson’s teammate Paul McPherson, a 6-4 junior guard.
Although DePaul’s lineup will change considerably next year with McPherson’s departure and the arrival of highly-regarded point guard Imari Sawyer, Richardson also discounted roster turnover as a factor in his thinking either way: “Those are very small intangibles . . . they’re not big enough deals to say, `Come’ or `Go,'” he said.
“I’m weighing the same things I had to weigh last year and the most important thing is what my family thinks. I’m also talking to my coaches, coach [Pat] Kennedy and [assistant coach Larry] Harrison. You’re not going to be able to please everyone, so you have to try your best to please yourself and the people around you.”
