Darius Morris to Test the NBA Draft Waters
Darius Morris will test the NBA draft process per his brother (FREEP article).
His brother DeWayne Morris Jr. said tonight that Darius will gauge his pro potential now that his sophomore season at U-M is concluded. “He’s going to test the waters,” DeWayne said. “He’s not going to hire an agent. He’s going to go through the process as if he was going to enter the draft.”
According to the article, Morris informed Beilein of his decision earlier this week.
DeWayne said Darius has until April 24 to declare for the draft and until May 8 to withdraw if Darius wants to return to school.
keep up the good work
Seeing where he might get drafted? Declaring?
Due diligence...can't be blamed, ought to be commended for having the smarts to test waters without hiring an agent. The waters will reply that he has a good foundation, and with work on his left hand could be a first round pick in a year or two.
And I responded, it just basically said "more to come". Every player should check and see what their value is. And go if they're a guaranteed first rounder.
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<br>Of course, going in the 2nd or unstaffed hasn't stopped players from leaving before...
I ... I don't like this.
MGoShoe just posted the link (warning: Freep content) but the vibe I'm getting is that he wants to gain some familiarity with the process annd get some feedback, but will likely use that to improve his game when he returns.
Not hiring an agent and it sounds highly likely he's coming back. Not worth panicking about right now.
Fully agree.
Agreed, I think he mainly wants to find out what he needs to improve and focus on those things over the summer and then see where he's at next year.
That said, there's some panic building, even though my rational brain says there's little to worry about.
March 26th, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
Any lockout, I imagine, would take place after the NBA Finals are over - well after the deadline for pulling out of the draft.
It's a total factor. Everyone knows it's an inevitability.
It won't discourage many players. They'll assume (probably correctly) that a lockout won't last long, if it happens.
March 26th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^
Lockout is not likely to affect many players' decisions. Why?
1) drafted players will get locked into the current (more favorable) collective bargaining agreement.
2) the lockout has a decent chance of extending into the season next year, but will not likely cut out the whole season. Players will still get the proportional amount of their salaries. League attendance has gotten better this year and this economic downturn won't have as drastic effect on lengthening the lockout as if the CBA had expired last summer.
3) Agents will tell them: you can still make money if you go pro (endorsements are some high profile guys) but the only way you make nothing is going back to school.
4)most guys have their minds made up going into college that they only want to stay one year.... and one and done guys only stay two or more if they clearly realize they aint as good as they thought. Once you've got the NBA dream in your head, its hard to get it out.
he will be back. he's not gonna leave when he's not guaranteed first round pick, going into a league thats destined to be locked out next year. good for him to get the experience of preparing for the draft - professionally, it makes a lot of sense.
darius and his family are smart folks. have faith.
While I think you are right and he will come back, the same type of thing happened to Manny and Donovan Warren last year and both went pro, neither got drafted. Hope to god he stays though, he can definitely become a solid first-rounder if he develops his left-hand and a more consistent jump shot.
actually WANTED to be in school.
Anyone else pissed that Snyder's article just earned some validation?
But the fact is, Snyder's article was generally less-informative than the sum total of about a half dozen of the better posts on the same subject, on MGoBlog.
Understandably, Snyder does have to dumb-down some of what he writes for the shit-stupid Free Press readership. And, as was mentioned at the time, including by Snyder himself, his story was nothing more than his own speculation. He didn't really have anything to report, and his story didn't contain any news.
In summary, Snyder was guessing about what might happen. And what might ultimately happen remains a complete guess. Even Darius presumably doesn't know.
March 27th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
Snyder's article was bs only because it was an opinion piece written to look like factual reporting. Everyone that was honest with themselves could see this move by Morris as a definite possibility.
since our last Dong Punch apparently
Daily dong punches are the new reality. Maybe not....but semi-monthly dong punches are. If you are not being dong punched on a semi-monthly basis, you are definitely in a coma and you need to find reliable friends to help wake you out of your coma.
So wait, does this mean the Upper Peninsula is leaving Michigan?
Does that mean we have to take Toledo back?
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
March 26th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^
nope, we're staying.....out of the LP and wisconsin, we'll take the LP, the lesser of two evils.
March 26th, 2011 at 10:58 PM ^
I thought the alternative was becoming the new state of Superior.
How serious is the water testing at this point? Are we talking serious, or like how Mike Martin tested the waters for the NFL?
I suppose...
This is worse than when Mike Martin went pro early: http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/mike-martin-going-pro
You beat me by a good few minutes. Good work. I feel the same way. See below.
Morris had a great season and as a potential first round pick in the draft after his junior year, he goes through the pre-draft camps, gets real feedback on his game, and as long as he doesn't hire an agent, he comes back with a better idea of what he needs to show for the NBA. I would expect this from ANY high perfomance sophomore. This is nothing to worry about.
Good lord assholes, Mike Martin did the same thing this past offseason. You know where he is right now. Calm down.
Mike martin did not do the same thing in the offseason. He got draft projections but he did not declare. Darius already got draft projections. If he does not withdrawl his name by the deadline we just have to hope that he doesn't get drafted so he can come back. I would hate to see darius lose his eligibity because he gets drafted at the end of the 2nd round.
Nowhere does it say he's entered the draft.
"He's going to go through the process as if he entered his name in the draft."
March 27th, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^
Was it really necessary to resort to petty name-calling?
This should be fun.
This is win/win for Michigan. If he tests the waters and gets a favorable results, recruits know they can get to the next level through Michigan. If not, we get the best PG in the Big Ten back for another run. He can then polish his skills and make it to the NBA.
Go Blue!
idea Darius. CHeck where you need to improve and work on that during the summer and next season. More power to you.
Precisely
"He loves the University of Michigan, and as a kid I think him saying he wanted to stay made sense. Even before they played Duke and won 8 of the last 11 games, he was planning on coming back. He had an apartment for next year. We didn’t talk about the NBA during the season. Most kids say I’ll do this to get numbers, but we only talked about Michigan.”
Sucks if he leaves, but 1) I doubt he goes and 2) I'll never take a shot at a kid for at least looking into whether he can make a dream come true and make a lot of money in the process. He's doing it the right way, but I selfishly hope he sees how high he could go after next year (or the year after... wouldn't that be glorious) and returns.
If people honestly think he's good enough to leave, then they shuld stop worrying. He isn't a good enough shooter yet and he doesn't have a left hand. The scouts are aware of this and I'm sure he is too. For him to leave now would be a much bigger surprise than Manny Harris leaving.
Manny leaving was not a surprise.
At least some good guards are coming in. It would be great to see Morris come back, but Michigan will still have a very good team next year regardless. I think he will be back anyway, because I am guessing he is a middle second round choice right now. In a year that could have a lockout, he will probably figure out that he is better off staying one more year.
I don't know his family situation, though. It's not like we are exactly in a robust economy right now. He may be getting familial pressure to start making money now. After all, it was his brother who was quoted for the story. Whatever the case, I wish him well.
I'm just glad that JB has his recruiting system pumping out good players now, so that one player leaving early doesn't totally screw up the team.