Thursday, March 30, 2000
UC wasn't long-term deal for Johnson
BY TIM SULLIVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DerMarr Johnson is not ready. He's just willing. He belongs in the NBA in much the same way mascara belongs on fifth-grade girls.
He's too young. He's too soft. His brain has not yet caught up with his body.
But how do you stop him? How do you persuade a precocious teen-ager to wait when there are millions to be made in the here and now? How do you tell a kid that the bird in the hand is actually an albatross?
Why would you even bother?
“I had a long talk with DJ in which we discussed his options, and I understand and support his decision,” University of Cincinnati basketball coach Bob Huggins said Wednesday. “It was great to have DerMarr in our program, both as a player and a person, if only for one year.”
And that was it. No wailing. No gnashing of teeth. No teary press conferences. No unctuous remarks about how it wasn't about the money. Johnson's decision to end his formal education was announced Wednesday afternoon in a five-paragraph fax, as if it were routine and/or inevitable for a 19-year-old freshman to turn pro.
One-season "apprenticeship'
Fact is, nobody should have been surprised. Johnson couldn't have been much clearer about his commitment to higher education if he had left his car double-parked outside the Shoemaker Center for the entire season.
Johnson was one of those recruits UC was lucky to land and unlikely to keep — a basketball prodigy who deigned to serve a brief apprenticeship before taking his game to a lucrative new level.
A 6-foot-9 shooting guard with a deft touch and a wide wingspan, Johnson averaged 12.6 points a game for a team that spent most of the season ranked No.1, and he barely scratched the surface of his ability.
Some games he was inconsistent. Some games he was practically invisible. Yet he would step up from time to time and make the scouts salivate. UC fans understood from the start that they had to enjoy him while he lasted.
“If you have a good program, guys will leave early,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “If you don't, you don't have to worry about it. ... If a guy is still here as a senior, he thinks something's wrong.”
Last year, four of the first five choices in the NBA draft were underclassmen. The fifth was a high school player. Elite college basketball players used to have “careers.” Now, most of them are merely marking time until the right opportunity arises. Their attrition rate suggests the midnight shift at Denny's. Or Bill Bradley's bandwagon.
It's unfortunate, but it's also unavoidable. The NCAA debates the advisability of freshman eligibility, recognizing that making freshmen ineligible will lead more athletes to skip college altogether. The NBA would prefer not to raid the colleges — and presumably develop more polished prospects — but it cannot discriminate against underclassmen without provoking unwinnable lawsuits.
So long as the NBA remains in compliance with child labor law, pretty much anything goes.
Not pressing his luck
If Johnson had any interest in remaining at UC, Kenyon Martin's experience must have made him wonder about the wisdom of it. Martin had become Exhibit A for the virtue of patience — a raw talent who developed into a refined player by completing his eligibility. When Martin broke his leg against Saint Louis, he became a forceful argument against finishing school.
Martin still may be the first player selected when the NBA draft takes place June 28, but his lengthy rehabilitation could cause some teams to reconsider. If Johnson is already a top-10 draft pick — as some NBA scouts suspect — perhaps he is prudent not to press his luck.
“Playing in the NBA is something I've wanted to do for the last three years,” Johnson said in Wednesday's statement. “My year at Cincinnati has prepared me to take this step.”
“Prepared” is a relative term. Johnson is still a relatively unfinished product. He is ready, however, to get rich.
Tim Sullivan welcomes your email at tsullivan@enquirer.com.
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