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Larry Hughes Basketball Earnings


HoosierPal

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Well, it would be pretty tough to argue Hughes would've been drafted higher or eventually made more money if he HAD gone to Kentucky or Duke. Shouldn't that be the takeaway here?

The championship is another matter. Hughes made SLU a tourney team pretty single-handedly. Tatum would do the same and more, and would improve an already tourney-caliber team's chances at a Final Four run exponentially. But if maximizing his chances to win the whole thing is a deal-breaker, then there is just no way SLU can compete.

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Honest question, if you were in his shoes would you even consider SLU?

Ha! This reminds me of the old Garrett Morris "what if Eleanor Roosevelt could fly?" routine.

I'll get back to you after I figure out what I'd be doing right now if I was in Mila Kunis' shoes. Hint: I might not leave the mirror for a while.

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Honest question, if you were in his shoes would you even consider SLU?

It's not exactly comparable but I had better academic schools that I could have attended then SLU but I still chose to go there for a bunch of reasons, including family ties to the school. I still ended up with a very nice job and career and was in no way hindered by the fact my four years weren't spent at an elite school. People can play the what-if game on just about anything but I know I'm quite happy with how things ended up. So yes, if I was in his shoes I would definitely consider SLU.

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how much of a college experience can one get in a year at a school while playing big time basketball? Would you be better off playing for the hometown team, being revered in your hometown, and have your friends/womenfolk close? Or going IK/Duke and having teammates that will play in the league with you, being on Espn every game, and meeting the team c dumpsters at those schools?

The benefit of hindsight for me says to stay home, make your city proud, etc. but I'm not 18 and about to play in the NBA. I don't think he could make a wrong decision in that regard.

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Well, it would be pretty tough to argue Hughes would've been drafted higher or eventually made more money if he HAD gone to Kentucky or Duke. Shouldn't that be the takeaway here?

The championship is another matter. Hughes made SLU a tourney team pretty single-handedly. Tatum would do the same and more, and would improve an already tourney-caliber team's chances at a Final Four run exponentially. But if maximizing his chances to win the whole thing is a deal-breaker, then there is just no way SLU can compete.

Wasn't Larry considering Syracuse? I seem to remember that from way back.

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It's not exactly comparable but I had better academic schools that I could have attended then SLU but I still chose to go there for a bunch of reasons, including family ties to the school. I still ended up with a very nice job and career and was in no way hindered by the fact my four years weren't spent at an elite school. People can play the what-if game on just about anything but I know I'm quite happy with how things ended up. So yes, if I was in his shoes I would definitely consider SLU.

If I were in his shoes I would have already committed to SLU.

Also, if I were in his shoes I would probably have a difficult time walking.

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Well, it would be pretty tough to argue Hughes would've been drafted higher or eventually made more money if he HAD gone to Kentucky or Duke. Shouldn't that be the takeaway here?

The championship is another matter. Hughes made SLU a tourney team pretty single-handedly. Tatum would do the same and more, and would improve an already tourney-caliber team's chances at a Final Four run exponentially. But if maximizing his chances to win the whole thing is a deal-breaker, then there is just no way SLU can compete.

Exactly. More likely he would have been drafted lower had he gone to UK. That Kentucky team was experienced and loaded. Let's say he goes to UK and averages 10-12 points as a freshman... no way he is a lottery pick. He got to show his complete game at SLU much earlier.

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Exactly. More likely he would have been drafted lower had he gone to UK. That Kentucky team was experienced and loaded. Let's say he goes to UK and averages 10-12 points as a freshman... no way he is a lottery pick. He got to show his complete game at SLU much earlier.

Let's say he goes to an experienced and loaded UK team and became the standout player on the team, averaging 15-17 points as a freshman....no way he is not a lottery pick. We can 'what if' all day, he could've rode the bench, he may have been the best player, who knows, you can have your opinions but can't say he made more money coming to SLU because you have zero clue ACE.

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Here are your top10 draft picks from 1998 along with the number of years played in the NBA. Olowokandi (9), Bibby (14), LaFrentz (10), Jamison (16), Carter (17), Traylor (7), Jason Williams (12), Hughes (13), Nowitzki (17) and Pierce (17). It's quite easy 17 years down the road to say Nowitzki, Carter and Pierce should have been 1-2-3 and Olowokandi and Traylor should have not been even top 10. But it is impossible to say Hughes would have been drafted higher or lower had he attended another school besides SLU. Two possible asteriks would be KU where LaFrentz and Pierce had the spotlight, and NC where Jamison and Carter lead the show.

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If Hughes went to Kentucky instead of SLU, he may not have been such a stand out and may not have averaged over 20, but one thing we do know is he would have a Championship ring. Every kid wants to win and if they have an opportunity to make a legitimate run at a title, they will most likely seize that opportunity.

It's not a guarantee that he would have had a championship ring either. While Larry was clearly a better player than any of the individuals on that team there is no guarantee that he would have meshed well with them or that in any of the final 3 games they played in the NCAA tourney, all of which were close, there wouldn't have been something that he did that changed the result of the game. What if he happened to endure a 3 for 16 game against Duke in the Elite 8, for example?

Marty McFly would be proud of my post...

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It's not a guarantee that he would have had a championship ring either. While Larry was clearly a better player than any of the individuals on that team there is no guarantee that he would have meshed well with them or that in any of the final 3 games they played in the NCAA tourney, all of which were close, there wouldn't have been something that he did that changed the result of the game. What if he happened to endure a 3 for 16 game against Duke in the Elite 8, for example?

Marty McFly would be proud of my post...

True

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Every NBA organization knows who Tatum is and his potential. He can go anywhere he wants and will be a top pick. It all depends on his mindset....Championship Run....Home Town Hero...

Agree. This year Emmanuel Mudiay is a consensus Lottery Pick. He is playing in fricking China. The NBA doesn't care where you play. They don't need to see you play 15 minutes a game at Kentucky. The will find Mr Tatum here in backroads St. Louis.

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how much of a college experience can one get in a year at a school while playing big time basketball? Would you be better off playing for the hometown team, being revered in your hometown, and have your friends/womenfolk close? Or going IK/Duke and having teammates that will play in the league with you, being on Espn every game, and meeting the team c dumpsters at those schools?

The benefit of hindsight for me says to stay home, make your city proud, etc. but I'm not 18 and about to play in the NBA. I don't think he could make a wrong decision in that regard.

Just an example of a one&done mindset in the link below. I would assume the majority of one&done players think the same way and would put themselves in a position to experience this success.

Bilas- "When the expectation is that you are going to college for one year and then moving on, how do you define success?"

Okafor- "Success for me is winning the National Championship"

http://m.espn.go.com/general/video?vid=12256402&src=desktop&ex_cid=sportscenterTW

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