Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Huggins, Wright Offer Opinions on One-And-Done Players
March 23, 2018 11:11 AM | Men's Basketball
BOSTON - The Big East Conference earlier this week came out with a recommendation to replace the current one-and-done setup in college basketball with a two-or-none policy, meaning players would have to spend at least two years in college before entering the NBA Draft.
West Virginia's Bob Huggins said Thursday he generally favors the league's suggestion.
"I've always thought the more time young people could spend on a college campus, the better prepared they're going to be for life," he said. "Whether it's one, two, three or four, you're going to be more prepared for life.
"I see a bunch of college graduates in here (media room), I would assume," he said. "You think back about the difference when you were 18 years old and coming out of high school and the difference when you were 21, 22 years old coming out of college, and that has a lot to do with a lot of things. I mean, you experience more things."
Huggins recalled coaching a one-and-done player at Cincinnati, forward DerMarr Johnson, in 2000.
"That's the last one-and-done I had," Huggins said. "Ask (John) Calipari. He's so much smarter about those kinds of things than I am."
Huggins was asked if it was a conscious decision not to recruit some of the one-and-done players that have attracted the attention of federal investigative agencies looking into corruption in the sport.
This ongoing inquiry has impacted a number of major programs, including Louisville, which fired longtime coach Rick Pitino last fall, and has cast a dark cloud over the game.
"Have you seen my team?" Huggins asked. "I told my athletic director that really he had two choices, either fire me for recruiting the guys I recruited or give me a raise for being able to win with them.
"We've got a bunch of guys that really were looking for an opportunity to play at the highest level," Huggins said. "We've got a bunch of guys, quite frankly, that were recruited by mid-major schools, and we saw something in them. We've got maybe two that we had to beat the big boys for. And the rest of them are guys that just love to play, wanted to go somewhere, get better, and wanted to play at the highest level."
Tonight's opponent, Villanova, is another program that doesn't recruit a lot of one-and-done players, although Wildcat coach Jay Wright admitted he would like to have some them in his program.
"There's local guys that we don't get," he said. "Michael Gilchrist was one that was coming down to us and Kentucky. I really thought he would have been great at Villanova. It's more than the individual person. He's a good kid and a good student. He loved Villanova, but John just did a better job at the end."
Wright said his program's culture and philosophy plays a role in those players he chooses to recruit.
"There's different ways to do it. You can go to an Ivy League school and still make the NBA," Wright explained. "You can go for one year and make the NBA and come back and get your degree.
"It's just our culture is such that we want someone that wants to be in college, and if they're good enough to leave in one year - Kyle Lowry was good enough in two years - if they're good enough to be a first-round pick in one year, great and go, and let's work out a way for you to come back and finish your degree and remain a part of the Villanova community."
Wright continued.
"I don't want it out there that I'm against one-and-dones. I don't want it out there that I don't want them - I want them. We try. Certain ones, we really try. We just lost a local one that's a great kid, and he's going to be very successful, and he picked a great school, but we wanted him," Wright said.
Huggins, too, would take those type of players at West Virginia, but he cautions that there is a risk-reward situation when pursuing them.
"I'd like to have those guys, but we're probably not going to get them," he said. "So, you spend a whole lot of time recruiting guys you don't get. I thought about that kind of at the end at Cincinnati because I'm recruiting all these guys.
"We got a few, but we didn't get very many," he added. "So, you spend all that time recruiting guys that you're not going to get."
Huggins likened it to a young courtship.
"You know, it's like chasing a girl you want to marry but can't," he said. "You spend all that time, spend all that money chasing her around, buying her things and at the end of the day, she walks off with somebody else."
West Virginia's Bob Huggins said Thursday he generally favors the league's suggestion.
"I've always thought the more time young people could spend on a college campus, the better prepared they're going to be for life," he said. "Whether it's one, two, three or four, you're going to be more prepared for life.
"I see a bunch of college graduates in here (media room), I would assume," he said. "You think back about the difference when you were 18 years old and coming out of high school and the difference when you were 21, 22 years old coming out of college, and that has a lot to do with a lot of things. I mean, you experience more things."
Huggins recalled coaching a one-and-done player at Cincinnati, forward DerMarr Johnson, in 2000.
"That's the last one-and-done I had," Huggins said. "Ask (John) Calipari. He's so much smarter about those kinds of things than I am."
Huggins was asked if it was a conscious decision not to recruit some of the one-and-done players that have attracted the attention of federal investigative agencies looking into corruption in the sport.
This ongoing inquiry has impacted a number of major programs, including Louisville, which fired longtime coach Rick Pitino last fall, and has cast a dark cloud over the game.
"Have you seen my team?" Huggins asked. "I told my athletic director that really he had two choices, either fire me for recruiting the guys I recruited or give me a raise for being able to win with them.
"We've got a bunch of guys that really were looking for an opportunity to play at the highest level," Huggins said. "We've got a bunch of guys, quite frankly, that were recruited by mid-major schools, and we saw something in them. We've got maybe two that we had to beat the big boys for. And the rest of them are guys that just love to play, wanted to go somewhere, get better, and wanted to play at the highest level."
Tonight's opponent, Villanova, is another program that doesn't recruit a lot of one-and-done players, although Wildcat coach Jay Wright admitted he would like to have some them in his program.
"There's local guys that we don't get," he said. "Michael Gilchrist was one that was coming down to us and Kentucky. I really thought he would have been great at Villanova. It's more than the individual person. He's a good kid and a good student. He loved Villanova, but John just did a better job at the end."
Wright said his program's culture and philosophy plays a role in those players he chooses to recruit.
"There's different ways to do it. You can go to an Ivy League school and still make the NBA," Wright explained. "You can go for one year and make the NBA and come back and get your degree.
"It's just our culture is such that we want someone that wants to be in college, and if they're good enough to leave in one year - Kyle Lowry was good enough in two years - if they're good enough to be a first-round pick in one year, great and go, and let's work out a way for you to come back and finish your degree and remain a part of the Villanova community."
Wright continued.
"I don't want it out there that I'm against one-and-dones. I don't want it out there that I don't want them - I want them. We try. Certain ones, we really try. We just lost a local one that's a great kid, and he's going to be very successful, and he picked a great school, but we wanted him," Wright said.
Huggins, too, would take those type of players at West Virginia, but he cautions that there is a risk-reward situation when pursuing them.
"I'd like to have those guys, but we're probably not going to get them," he said. "So, you spend a whole lot of time recruiting guys you don't get. I thought about that kind of at the end at Cincinnati because I'm recruiting all these guys.
"We got a few, but we didn't get very many," he added. "So, you spend all that time recruiting guys that you're not going to get."
Huggins likened it to a young courtship.
"You know, it's like chasing a girl you want to marry but can't," he said. "You spend all that time, spend all that money chasing her around, buying her things and at the end of the day, she walks off with somebody else."
College Basketball Crown Recap
Thursday, April 16
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & Brenen Lorient | Oklahoma Postgame
Sunday, April 05
Ross Hodge, Treysen Eaglestaff & Brenen Lorient | Creighton Postgame
Saturday, April 04
Ross Hodge & Honor Huff | Stanford Postgame
Thursday, April 02
