sampson III officially declares for draft

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scher215

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Per these tweets from Myron

@GophersBBGuy: Ralph Sampson III has entered the NBA draft. His AAU coach says he's "strongly considering" a pro career.

@GophersBBGuy: But his AAU coach also believes he'll return to school.
 

Rick Richert was more ready than RSIII and he was nowhere NEAR ready.
 

Sampson is a good, solid, Big Ten basketball player, but he will never, ever, ever be anything more than an end-of-the-bench-type player in the NBA. He will be extremely lucky to ever even draw an NBA paycheck. If it weren't for his name, no one would even be giving him a second thought as an NBA prospect. The sooner he comes to grips with all of these things, the better off he will be.
 


Sampson is extremely over rated in my opinion. He is soft, lacks any significant post moves (other than his occasional baby hook) and has zero toughness to his game. I hope he hires and agent so he cannot return to the team, the future of our front court is Elliason and Walker anyway, I'd rather have those guys get the experience than to see Sampson play another minute. While our depth in the front court will be thin if he doesn't return (Elliason, Walker, Mbakwe, Ingram) I'll roll the dice and hope we don't face any injuries.

The fact that he thinks he is worthy of being drafted in the NBA is laughable. If Mbakwe was projected as a late second rounder had he decided to enter the NBA, how Sampson thinks he will be drafted is beyond me. If I was an NBA GM, I wouldn't take him in the 5th round if there was such a thing, let alone waste a 2nd round pick on him.
 



I don't think he officially declared, maybe officially softly-whispered.
 


Eye of the Gopher said:
Sampson is extremely over rated in my opinion. He is soft, lacks any significant post moves (other than his occasional baby hook) and has zero toughness to his game. I hope he hires and agent so he cannot return to the team, the future of our front court is Elliason and Walker anyway, I'd rather have those guys get the experience than to see Sampson play another minute. While our depth in the front court will be thin if he doesn't return (Elliason, Walker, Mbakwe, Ingram) I'll roll the dice and hope we don't face any injuries.

The fact that he thinks he is worthy of being drafted in the NBA is laughable. If Mbakwe was projected as a late second rounder had he decided to enter the NBA, how Sampson thinks he will be drafted is beyond me. If I was an NBA GM, I wouldn't take him in the 5th round if there was such a thing, let alone waste a 2nd round pick on him.
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Honestly, is all that necessary? So the kid declared, big deal. Now if he stays in, maybe I'll see your point, but if what I think is gonna happen, happens, then it's truly no big deal. I'm not sure why everyone is getting so hyped up cause he's entertaining the idea of going pro. Maybe this is a motivating factor for him and he'll come into the summer ready to work cause he knows exactly where he stands. I don't know, just seems like a lot of venom at a guy who's just looking at his options to make money doing something he loves to do.
 



Wow, he is showing more ambition declaring then he ever showed on the floor of William's arena.
 

I would also like to declare that I am officially declaring for the NBA Draft.

My chances of getting selected are the same as RSIII...........ZERO.
 





I heard from my source this past weekend, who was in the basketball office earlier in the week that they don't expect him to return. that was straight from an assistant coach who I will leave nameless. Time will tell I guess, it all depends on whether he signs an agent at this point. If he doesn't, he will be back...because there is no chance he gets drafted.
 

If Sampson’s seriously contemplating about turning pro right now, it can be more related with the uncertainty looming over the team.

With the guard situation and TM returning, Sampson may not have a good opportunity interior to shine on in terms of stat and performance. There is a possibility that the team will not improve much next season. Thus, his chance at the NBA may not improve by staying in school for one more year (well, unless his J gains some serious ground in consistency and range, about which I am not so optimistic).

If so, I would think his turning pro, though not necessarily into the NBA, is a valid option. And, entering the draft is a reasonable first step in changing the direction. After all, he won’t lose anything by it if undrafted yet playing elsewhere as a pro.

Nonetheless, I think Tubby will get him back.
 

Monty519 said:
Honestly, is all that necessary? So the kid declared, big deal. Now if he stays in, maybe I'll see your point, but if what I think is gonna happen, happens, then it's truly no big deal. I'm not sure why everyone is getting so hyped up cause he's entertaining the idea of going pro. Maybe this is a motivating factor for him and he'll come into the summer ready to work cause he knows exactly where he stands. I don't know, just seems like a lot of venom at a guy who's just looking at his options to make money doing something he loves to do.
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I understand your point here, but from what I have heard is that Ralph (and his camp) truly feel he is going to get drafted. Testing the waters and truly believing you are a worthy of being drafted are two different things to me, especially where his game is in it's current state. If he doesn't get drafted, which he won't, I hope that he uses his rejection to the NBA as motivation to bust his ass to get himself ready for next season's NBA draft. If he does return to our beloved squad, I wish him nothing but the best for the sake of the team for obvious reasons. He is just so far from being NBA ready to me that I don't feel that he's even ready to test the waters. Then again it's his life and he is free to do what he likes. For his sake and his future in basketball, I hope he doesn't hire an agent, because he sure could use another season of Big Ten experience, in turn giving him more media exposure. He has a much better chance of success if he returns to school, rather than washing up in the NBA development league or going overseas where his name will never be mentioned by anyone.

Just my opinion
 


It's fine if you don't think Sampson is ready for the NBA yet, but why rip our own players?
 

Eye of the Gopher said:
I understand your point here, but from what I have heard is that Ralph (and his camp) truly feel he is going to get drafted. Testing the waters and truly believing you are a worthy of being drafted are two different things to me, especially where his game is in it's current state. If he doesn't get drafted, which he won't, I hope that he uses his rejection to the NBA as motivation to bust his ass to get himself ready for next season's NBA draft. If he does return to our beloved squad, I wish him nothing but the best for the sake of the team for obvious reasons. He is just so far from being NBA ready to me that I don't feel that he's even ready to test the waters. Then again it's his life and he is free to do what he likes. For his sake and his future in basketball, I hope he doesn't hire an agent, because he sure could use another season of Big Ten experience, in turn giving him more media exposure. He has a much better chance of success if he returns to school, rather than washing up in the NBA development league or going overseas where his name will never be mentioned by anyone.

Just my opinion
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I hear ya, and I pretty much agree with you. The way you presented it just seemed excessive lol. I really hope though, for his sake, that he doesn't go through with this, I just don't see it ending well if he does. Stranger things have happened, but I just can't see a scenario where he is one of the top 30 selected, let alone drafted at all. They might be intrigued by his size and range, and he can block shots, but it just feels like he needs more time IMO.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
It's fine if you don't think Sampson is ready for the NBA yet, but why rip our own players?
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Sorry if it came off as "ripping" but I was just trying to give reasons why it's not a good idea for him to declare for the NBA. At the same time, what has Ralph done to warrant him not taking some heat for not living up to his expectations?.....Gopher or not. I think it's fair to say that we all expected him to be a better player than he currently is.
 

Monty519 said:
I hear ya, and I pretty much agree with you. The way you presented it just seemed excessive lol. I really hope though, for his sake, that he doesn't go through with this, I just don't see it ending well if he does. Stranger things have happened, but I just can't see a scenario where he is one of the top 30 selected, let alone drafted at all. They might be intrigued by his size and range, and he can block shots, but it just feels like he needs more time IMO.
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Agreed
 

I don't think Ralph will get drafted but I do think he could play in the D League and get just as much out of that as playing in college next year especially since Mbakwe and Mo will cut into his minutes as the featured post man.

I did see improvement in his face up game this year and the NBA loves the face up 4 man these days, maybe that's what does in the D League. The one thing he has going for him is his size and oh yeah, his last name. You can't coach that.
 

RS3

I don't understand ripping Ralph. He has repped the U well and deserves better than getting ripped on a Gopher fan board. I wish him well. If he gets drafted good for him. If he doesn't, I hope he stays and graduates. He can always play pro ball in Austrailia or Spain later.
 

Section201 said:
I don't understand ripping Ralph. He has repped the U well and deserves better than getting ripped on a Gopher fan board. I wish him well. If he gets drafted good for him. If he doesn't, I hope he stays and graduates. He can always play pro ball in Austrailia or Spain later.
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Agreed. He's been a good player who has stayed out of trouble and is pursuing a dream. Nothing wrong with that.
 

Section201 said:
I don't understand ripping Ralph. He has repped the U well and deserves better than getting ripped on a Gopher fan board. I wish him well. If he gets drafted good for him. If he doesn't, I hope he stays and graduates. He can always play pro ball in Austrailia or Spain later.
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+1
 

notagopherfan said:
I don't think Ralph will get drafted but I do think he could play in the D League and get just as much out of that as playing in college next year especially since Mbakwe and Mo will cut into his minutes as the featured post man.

I did see improvement in his face up game this year and the NBA loves the face up 4 man these days, maybe that's what does in the D League. The one thing he has going for him is his size and oh yeah, his last name. You can't coach that.
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Solid point, I do agree that his minutes could diminish next season, especially having to battle for time with Mbakwe, Ingram, Eliason, and Walker. From what I have heard (and I found it hard to believe) was that Eliason was dominating Colton in nearly every practice last season, meaning he probably had his own with Ralph at times. From what I remember seeing in warmups last season, Eliason has a solid 2 inches on Ralph. Pretty sure Ralph's height is inflated a little. Elliason is close to a 7 footer. Ralph on the other hand I feel is closer to 6'10 rather than 6'11 by the looks of it. Then again who's height isn't inflated in basketball???
 

If Sampson leaves early, one might conclude that his class was the most disappointing in Gophers history.

Sampson - 4*, gone early before reaching potential
Iverson - 3*, transfers without doing much
Joseph - 4*, sudden transfer screws our season, and indirectly screws up our PG recruiting last year (ie, if he's not on the team we probably don't spend all our time chasing his brother)
Bostick - JC player of the year gets in trouble, barely sees the court
Carter - showed some talent, but transferred before it all came together


Meanwhile, the two under-the-radar MN guys that went to Wisconsin both stay all 4 years...Taylor apparently staying even after getting 1st team All Big Ten honors.
 

I think I don't know anything about anything like this, so I don't think I will say things and pretend I do.
 

I believe Ralph is currently closer to being NBA-ready than anyone else in the program.

He's a very good player and not having him back would be significant to the 2011-12 season.
 

Losing Sampson would be a huge problem. On the other hand, I think his fond hopes of being drafted will be dashed sooner rather than later, and he'll be back next year. He's not NBA material right now.
 

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