May 7, 1999
“I met with Jamaal (Magloire) and his family last night in Toronto, andJamaal has decided to continue to pursue his opportunity to play in theNBA. And the only way for him to discover his value and worth is toattend some of the pre-draft workouts and allow the NBA scouts to evaluatehim.
He’s also going to enroll in summer school because his parents reallywant him to come back and get his education. But as a young player withdreams of playing at the next level, we want to help him determine his level.By announcing now, it should give him a clearer picture of where hestands. He can always decide to return to school, and we’re going to leave thatoption open to him.”
On Jamaal’s future
“He won’t sign with an agent. That’s one of the things he agreed he wouldn’t do. But he’s going to go through the entire process,including the workouts. It’s highly likely that he’ll come back. He’s unsureand his parents want him to finish his education. If he’s not going to bea high pick, I think you’ll see him come back.”
On Jamaal not heeding scouts advice to stay in school
“Jamaal is a confident young man who believes in his ability and needsto see for himself. He wants all the information in front of him. Jamaalthinks he can play against any big man, and I like that confidence.”
On UK’s future
“We’ve lost a couple of players, but we feel good about the players wehave coming back and the players we have signed. It’s disappointing thatthe players left, but you have to move on.”
On his advice
“I’m concerned about the opportunity not being there for Jamaal, basedon what I’m hearing from pro scouts and other experts. I’d advise him to stay, but he has to decide what’s best for him. I have to look out forwhat’s best for Kentucky basketball, and that’s for Jamaal to stay.But Ihave an obligation to my players to help them make the best decisions. Jamaal has to make his own decision. That will be better for all of usin the long run.”
On Mike Bradley and Ryan Hogan tranferring
“When I look at Ryan’s decision, he is playing behind Desmond Allisonand Tayshaun and now we got Keith Bogans coming up. With Mike, I wasconcerned because the guy started 37 straight games and played 22 minutes. Theyare players that are looking for something more. Certainly in this programwe’ve been able to bring guys along and see them grow and prosper and develop through our system like Jeff (Sheppard) did, like Allen(Edwards) did, Nazr (Mohammed) did and like Cameron (Mills). They tookleadership roles and that’s the way I coach and that is the way I build my teams.I think both of those guys will be better by having played here and goingthrough our individual workouts. This the most I’ve been surprised inmy whole career. You always look at yourself first and say ‘did I do something wrong, did I not see something coming?’ At the end of theseason I thought everyone was on the same page as we went on to win the SEC Tournament. I thought we were playing pretty well.”
On the state of the team
“We are going to be young, but we were going to be young anyway. So weare just going to be younger. I feel good about the players we having returning and our freshmen thatwe’ve signed. They are some of the most talented players I’ve had inmy coaching career. I am very excited about next year.”
