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| | Tuesday, May 9 Bulldogs wary of professional possibilities | ||||||
| By Andy Katz ESPN.com A year later, Rick Stansbury is in the same predicament, saying the same thing. The Mississippi State coach said in the spring of 1999 that Jonathan Bender would honor his commitment to the Bulldogs and not declare for the draft. But Bender did declare and was chosen by the Indiana Pacers with the fifth pick of the NBA draft. The Bulldogs finished 14-15, 5-11, and in last in the SEC West in 2000. Bender played in 24 games, averaging 2.7 points for the Pacers, who captured the top seed in the Eastern Conference. "We were convinced Bender was staying, but he didn't have total control of the situation," said Stansbury, hinting that there were outside forces pushing Bender to go pro. "But we were fighting him being a lottery pick. We were the first school every in the history of the SEC to lose a kid out of high school to the NBA. It sets you back because he was the player to get us over the hump." But another hurdle may be thrown in Stansbury's way. Top signee and McDonald's All-American Mario Austin, a 6-foot-8 forward from York, Ala., is flirting with declaring for the draft. Stansbury said Austin will be eligible to play collegiately before the May 14 early-entry deadline. Austin said if he's not, he'll go to the NBA. NBA scouts have told ESPN.com that he's a second-round pick, although some team could guarantee Austin that he would go in the first round. That's not a reach, considering that Chicago high school product Leon Smith was told he would be a first-round pick. He was a year ago when Dallas had San Antonio take him with the 29th pick and then traded for his rights. If Austin were to still come to Mississippi State as a partial qualifier -- meaning he could practice and not play -- then the Bulldogs would still be OK for the future. But if Austin bolts, the Bulldogs will struggle to recover two years in a row. Few programs could handle this kind of adversity. "This is a different situation," Stansbury said. "First, Mario will be eligible because he's got his test scores. He's just got to finish school. But he's not Bender. Bender was in a league by himself. Austin hasn't been involved, wrapped up with one AAU guy like Bender. We didn't have control in the end last year. This is just Mario and his mom." But Stansbury admitted that if Austin followed Bender's same path, "it would be crushing" to the Bulldogs. All it takes is one person to get in Austin's ear and let him know that he's a first-round pick. That means a guaranteed contract with guaranteed money. "Some guy will let them know that they're something that they're not," Stansbury said. "Most teams don't have Mario on the board. He'd be a late second-rounder or bounce around the CBA." Stansbury is banking on Austin being a Bulldog. But he's still worried he could get burned again. A year ago, when Bender bolted, the Bulldogs couldn't get in on Alonzo Lane. The Mississippi product ended up going to Arkansas and being a vital part of the Razorbacks' SEC tournament title run. The Bulldogs tried, but to no avail, to land forward Darius Rice of Lanier High (Jackson, Miss.). Instead, Rice is expected to sign with Kentucky over the Bulldogs, Memphis, Arkansas and Miami (Fla.). The Bulldogs desperately need a power forward and not having Austin will prevent them from being a contender. If they get him, Austin would rotate in with a frontcourt of seniors: 6-7 Tang Hamilton (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg), 6-8 Robert Jackson (12.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and 6-5 Antonio Jackson. Guard Marckell Patterson (8.9 ppg) could have a new point guard in the backcourt if signee Tim Bowers (Harrison Central; Gulfport, Miss.) replaces Todd Myles. Olympic format in Puerto Rico The NCAA's decision to force exempted tournaments outside of the 48 contiguous states to pay the expenses of their teams has forced the Puerto Rico Shootout organizers to become creative. And, if their unique tournament format is approved, it could change the way the tournaments are conducted in November and December. Chris Spencer, the organizer for both the Thanksgiving Puerto Shootout and the Holiday Classic, has come up with an Olympic pool play format with a twist. Spencer has petitioned the NCAA to allow the two tournaments to play four games, instead of three, with the first game on campus sites. The eight teams would be split into two four-team pools. The first game would be played on campus in the pool. Then, all eight teams would go to Puerto Rico, to conclude the three-game pool play. The top two teams in the pool would meet in the championship game (the rest of the final day would be matched up by records). For example, the Holiday Classic has a tentative lineup of Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Clemson, Washington, Youngstown State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Iowa and American University of Puerto Rico. Under the new format, Eastern Michigan could play at Washington and American U. at Cincinnati in round one in a pool play format. Then, in Puerto Rico, Cincinnati would play Eastern Michigan, Washington would play American U. The third day would have Cincinnati playing Washington and Eastern Michigan playing American U. Puerto Rico got burned a few years ago when Kentucky lost to Pittsburgh, preventing a Kentucky-Maryland final. This format would have set matchups until the final day, which would help teams prepare for the tournament. But why would the NCAA agree to a four-game exempted tournament? Spencer said the Preseason NIT gets four games (actually only four teams play four games) in an exempted tournament, so why can't Puerto Rico? "We checked the rules and this shouldn't be a problem," Spencer said. "If schools can only play in these tournaments twice every four years, we might as well get the most out of it." Spencer's organization would pay for American U. to fly to the mainland for its first-round game. He said the four home games in round one would make "common sense." Spencer said the revenue would be split three ways -- to each team and the tournament. "Mid-majors should want to do this to help their RPI," Spencer said. "This is the fairest way to do this. We need to be creative to stay alive under the current restrictions." The NCAA won't rule on this until later this spring or summer, but Spencer said he's going ahead with plans to have first-round games on campuses. The Thanksgiving tournament still needs one team to join American U. of Puerto Rico, Stanford, Utah, Georgia, Miami (Ohio), Indiana State and Memphis. Weekly chatter
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