<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ATLANTA — The 2005-06 season had just ended for the Texas Longhorns when center LaMarcus Aldridge was asked to forecast their chances for 2006-07. "It looks great for us," Aldridge said after UT's 70-60 overtime loss to LSU on Saturday in the Atlanta regional final. "We have a lot of great guys here and a lot of great guys coming in." The million-dollar question — or, for Aldridge, the multi-million dollar one — is whether the 6-foot-11 wunderkind will be around to play with them. Aldridge has been projected a top-3 pick in the NBA draft should he elect to pass on his final two college seasons. Some analysts rate him as the potential No. 1 selection. Aldridge, who has maintained that he considers himself a four-year player, says he hasn't made a firm decision. Pressed about his plans after losing to LSU, he said, "Far as I know, I'm coming back." By most measures but the grandest one — a national championship — it was a successful season for the Longhorns. They finished 30-7, setting a school record for victories. They won a share of the Big 12 regular-season title, claiming their first conference trophy in seven years. They advanced to a regional final for the first time since 2003. They came within one atrocious overtime period of moving on to the Final Four. "A special season," coach Rick Barnes called it. Whether UT can match those accomplishments next season — or even surpass them — hinges upon Aldridge's decision. Money or matriculation? Choose the latter, and UT probably is in the discussion for a preseason No. 1 ranking — especially with a recruiting class ranked among the nation's best. Choose the former, and the Longhorns are forced to rebuild without their centerpiece. They stand to be a good team either way. Just don't expect Barnes to pressure his center to stay. He advised T.J. Ford, UT's last would-be lottery pick, to go pro after his sophomore season in 2003. "In a couple of weeks we'll sit down, look at the situation and see what LaMarcus wants to do," Barnes said. Of course, Aldridge's fate isn't the Longhorns' only question mark. Just the biggest one. UT loses two senior starters — forward Brad Buckman and point guard Kenton Paulino. Two more — sophomore guard Daniel Gibson and junior forward P.J. Tucker, the Big 12's player of the year — have had their names mentioned as potential NBA early entries, as well. Gibson and Tucker have said they plan to return next year. They would join a freshman class that might be Barnes' best. The six-man crop features Kevin Durant, a 6-10 forward from Maryland rated as the nation's No. 2 prospect by some, as well as point guard D.J. Augustin from Fort Bend Hightower. </div> Source: Aldridge has choice: UT or pros
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ATLANTA — Some two hours after Texas' basketball season came to a painful and abrupt conclusion on the Georgia Dome floor, an exhausted Rick Barnes sat in a secluded locker room and tried to make sense of it all. Before the team took a charter flight back to Austin, the Longhorn coach had met privately with many of his key players. He spoke to them of where they'd been and where they may be going and how they hope to get there. Those destinations may not be one and the same for all the Longhorns who fell short of their Final Four goal and lost 70-60 in overtime to a talented and possibly national champion Louisiana State club that's so tall that it needed special zoning permits to fit in the arena. Was that the final college game of sophomore LaMarcus Aldridge's career? Probably. Will junior P.J. Tucker be lured to the NBA and leave on a high as Big 12 Player of the Year? Possibly. When Barnes was asked if he might be leaving early for the NBA, the eighth-year Texas coach smiled a wry grin and said, "You going to give me some money?" Sorry, Rick, but we're a little short right now. But he knows some NBA teams are more than ready to give a lot of money to a few of his players, although shooting guard Daniel Gibson wisely said he was "definitely" returning to school for his junior season after an erratic offensive year and a spectacular defensive improvement. It promises to be a very fluid situation maybe up until April 29 — the deadline for declaring — but the bet today is that Aldridge leaves for the pros and Tucker will seriously weigh those options and at least test those waters. The Spurs and Bulls have both expressed interest in him. Aldridge is a highly skilled power forward whose 6-11 length makes him a desirable frontcourt player with a nice jump hook and an almost unblockable turnaround jumper, at least in college. That said, he could have a lot of 2-for-14 games in the NBA as he did Saturday in the Elite Eight game against LSU. Frankly, he is not remotely ready to play in that next league, but the NBA is less interested in immediate impact as it is in not missing out on potentially the next big thing. Hello, Kwame Brown. Didn't you used to be Darko Milicic? They can't all be LeBron James and Kobe Bryants and Kevin Garnetts and have instant success before their senior proms. Aldridge wouldn't, either, but that won't stop an NBA team from showering money on him. As Barnes said, he's a shoo-in to be a top five pick and maybe even No. 1. And that's the difficult decision facing this young talent. Does he take the money now or does he stay in college another season and groom himself to be more prepared when he does make the jump? He first told the American-Statesman back in November he could envision himself following Tim Duncan's lead and staying in school for four seasons as the Spurs forward did at Wake Forest. That surely is not going to happen. This season was probably Aldridge's last. We're hoping it's not, but we can certainly understand if it is. A total payday of almost $8 million for the first pick would entice any college sophomore. Aldridge absolutely needs considerable more strength in his lower core as well as his upper body so he can establish himself in the paint and not get pushed off the low block as easily as LSU's 310-pound Glen Davis did Saturday. His ball-handling needs work as well, so he can take smaller, less athletic power forwards off the dribble and get to the basket. "I want what's best for him," said Barnes, who bemoaned the incessant pressure put on Aldridge by agents. "I want him to do what's right for him." Aldridge should believe those words. T.J. Ford all but begged to come back for his junior season, but Barnes told him he needed to leave after the Final Four in 2003, cash in while he had the chance and not risk further injury with his harrowing spinal stenosis condition. Aldridge, too, could get hurt in college and did as a freshman, but there are no rewards without risks. </div> Source: Draft could be chilling for Horns
