nik stauskas

Does this mean Stauskas, GR3 and McGary are all coming back?

The future is bright!!! #growBlue pic.twitter.com/7PRtDcJrZk

— Bacari Alexander (@bacari34) April 10, 2014

The future is bright. #growBlue pic.twitter.com/2RB3MnSLvq

— Bacari Alexander (@bacari34) April 10, 2014

Future is bright! #growBlue pic.twitter.com/h3uHLcaHVq

— Bacari Alexander (@bacari34) April 10, 2014

Future is bright. #growBlue #justabasketawayfromathreepeat pic.twitter.com/UPvcAZg14u

— Bacari Alexander (@bacari34) April 10, 2014

The future is bright. #growBlue pic.twitter.com/oOVTcFNvY1

— Bacari Alexander (@bacari34) April 10, 2014

In a surprise to no one, but probably more important tham who's wearing Michigan apparel threads, Mitch McGary, Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III have filed to request an evaluation by the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee.

Link

At least as of this minute (9:49 Pacific), Nik Stauskas is the cover boy on NBA.com, with a link to an article by David Aldridge ranking the 2014 draft's shooting guards. 

Aldridge puts everyone in the pot, not just seniors or those who have declared, and ranks Nik ahead of Gary Harris, Kentucky's dynamic freshmen, and Arizona's Nick Johnson, amongst others.  Probably the most interesting quote comes from an unnamed Western Conference Executive:

"He's got a little edge on his shoulder that you've got to have when you're a 6-6 white wing player in our league," a Western Conference exec said. "He's not going to be a (defensive) liability, but he's also not going to be the guy you put on the other team's best wing player." 

White guys need an "edge".  Got it. 

Tried using my windows "snipping tool" to capture the page image for this post but MGoBlog doesn't seem to want to let me paste it into this window.  Hopefully it's still there if you click this link:  http://www.nba.com/ 

Direct link to the Aldridge summary of Shooting Guard prospects:  http://www.nba.com/news/features/david_aldridge/david-aldridges-big-board-shooting-guards-2014-draft/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt3a 

Both the College Athletes Players Association and growing support for the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit are in the news today.  As someone who has long advocated allowing players to take money from whoever wants to pay them as long as it doesn't affect the integrity of the results of games, I am happy to see this.

To me, this raises a question: "What if players were allowed to take money?"

In Ann Arbor, this question is most relevant to basketball fans due to impending player decisions,  the current structure of the NBA draft and NCAA rules.  Players who are guaranteed first round picks are giving up a lot of money to come back to school.  But what if they didn't have to give up that money?

Imagine Nik Stauskas being allowed to accept booster money and endorsements.  Does anyone here think he couldn't make more endorsement money next season as an elite colelge athlete than as an NBA rookie?  

Stauskas could sign an individual apparel contract with Adidas.  He could appear in regional commercials for national businesses such as Dick's Sporting Goods, which would present an opportunity for wordplay such as, "Nik's Sporting Goods."  Toss in a restaurant or two, an automobile dealership and a few appearances at corporate outings during the summer, and Nik could do just fine in Ann Arbor next season.

This step alone could convince a lot of college players to stay around for four years, realizing that their level of fame will probably never be as high as when they are elite players in an elite program.  

Iti will be too late for us to see what would have happened if Nik had stayed, but I think it will happen within the next five years.  AFAIC, it can't happen soon enough.

Title pretty much says it.

Congratulations to Nik!

Link

I hate to give the Free Press credit or link to them. In this case I have to do it. I heard Sam Webb mention it today.

This is a very good article about Stauskas and how he turned to Greg Harden this fall and goes into how much Harden has helped him. This makes me feel very good that Nik is going to take care of business Friday and for the whole run through the NCAA tournament.

Free Press Link