Morrison & Redick: Practice pals? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">INDIANAPOLIS -- If Adam Morrison declares for the NBA draft, as expected, he already has a sparring partner set for spring workouts leading up to the June draft. And it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's Duke's J.J. Redick. The Gonzaga junior forward and the Duke senior guard shared the United States Basketball Writers Association Oscar Robertson player of the year award Friday. Later Friday, Redick won the Associated Press player of the year award. Redick already won the Rupp Award. The Wooden and Naismith will be announced in the next two weeks. Regardless, the plan to work out is set, if Morrison declares by the April 29 deadline. And, if he does, you can expect him to stay in the draft instead of withdrawing before the June 18 deadline. "We could make each other better and push each other," Redick said about the two working out together in the spring. "It's unfortunate that we weren't able to play against each other this season." Morrison said if they do work out together, it would likely be in either Spokane or Los Angeles. Still, Morrison said he hasn't made up his mind yet, even though he would likely be a top-five pick and has the potential to be the top pick. "I've got to talk to my family," Morrison said. "I haven't thought about it to be honest. I needed time off." Gonzaga coach Mark Few said Morrison isn't just spinning the decision. He said he truly hasn't decided, even though it appears there really isn't a decision with the expectation of how high he would go in the draft. "He's just a normal kid and he's just now starting to generate the thought process," Few said. "We talked about it a bit in the cab ride over here [Thursday] from the airport. But in the office [Tuesday] he said he hadn't thought about it. "We've got to make a couple of calls and find out exactly where [he would go]," Few said. "I have to do the right thing and give him the best advice. We have to do what's best for Adam, not what's best for Gonzaga." Morrison and Redick were extremely respectful of each other Friday morning and were in awe of sitting next to Robertson before receiving the player of the year award (North Carolina's Roy Williams won coach of the year). The two, who will play together in July for sure at the USA Basketball National Team trials in Las Vegas, also met Larry Bird when the Indiana Pacers general manager unveiled a permanent Robertson display at Conseco Fieldhouse. "I told J.J. that I just met God as far as basketball is concerned," said Morrison, who sheepishly and shyly shook Bird's hand. "What can you say to him? If he told me to run some laps around the gym, I would." Morrison and Redick are still smarting over not taking their respective teams to the Final Four. Morrison's Zags lost to UCLA in the Sweet 16 in a collapse of epic proportions, blowing a 17-point lead (and a five-point advantage in the final minute) in Oakland. Earlier that same night, Redick's Blue Devils lost to LSU in Atlanta. "It's very difficult to be here without the rest of my teammates," Redick said. "When I first got here, I thought about them. I'm still disappointed at the way the season ended, and I'm not quite over it. But I had a great career at Duke and won a lot of ballgames." Said Morrison: "We gave it away, but you have to give credit to UCLA because they got the stops." As for their scoring chase throughout the season, Redick said "it was good for college basketball and gave something for everyone to look forward to each night." Morrison added, "I thought it was cool how you guys [the media] made it into a competition. But we were just trying to help our respective teams win." Final nuggets ? Expect former Rutgers coach Gary Waters to replace the departed Mike Garland at Cleveland State. ? Brown coach Glen Miller and Boston College associate head coach Bill Coen will likely be two of the finalists at Northeastern. ? Add UCLA assistant Kerry Keating and GW's Karl Hobbs as possible Oklahoma candidates, along with Wichita State's Mark Turgeon, Creighton's Dana Altman and Miami's Frank Haith, so far.</div> That's a great quote.
