BOULDER — Colorado’s George Hypolite is in the process of submitting a request for an evaluation from the NFL’s College Advisory Committee, but the junior defensive tackle said Buffaloes fans should not consider that a sign that he is ready to jump to the pros a year early.
“I don’t plan to leave the University of Colorado until I’m ready to leave, and right now I’m not ready to leave,” Hypolite said Tuesday during CU’s on-campus Independence Bowl media day activities.
“When you evaluate the process, people buy into that (hype) too much,” he added. “I love the University of Colorado. It’s been a great university for me. I’ve been allowed to flourish while I’m here.”
Hypolite, 6-feet-1 and 285 pounds, said he doubts that any feedback from the NFL, even an extremely positive evaluation, would convince him to leave.
“It would have to be whoever has the No. 1 pick in the draft coming to me and saying: ‘We’re taking you No. 1 overall. We can start working on contract negotiations,’ ” Hypolite said with a grin. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t think I’m going anywhere.
“I have a lot of things to work on. I’m not as good as people think I am.”
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. currently ranks Hypolite fifth among defensive tackles in the junior class. In September, Kiper had rated Hypolite fourth among juniors at his position.
Hypolite said the two partially torn tendons in his left thigh feel better but aren’t 100 percent.
“It doesn’t stop me from doing what I want to do, but right now I’m just not perfectly where I want to be,” he said.
Hypolite, who earned first-team all-Big 12 Conference honors from the league’s coaches as well as the media, said he applied for an NFL evaluation because he “was just curious.”
Non-seniors must be out of high school for three years to be eligible for the draft. Hypolite is the only third-year player to request an evaluation, CU coach Dan Hawkins said.
“George is a smart kid. He’ll do a good job of looking at (the evaluation),” Hawkins said. “We’ll do the best job we can do of helping him, as well. If (turning pro early) is a realistic option and a realistic opportunity for him and it’s a good thing for him, that’s great.
“But stats bear out that for juniors, that’s usually not a good thing. We just have to see if he’s in that exception box.”
Footnotes.
Senior offensive tackle Tyler Polumbus, on Alabama: “They’re not just fast. They’re fast and big.” CU will practice Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Players are off for Monday and Tuesday (Christmas) and will reconvene Wednesday afternoon at the team’s bowl headquarters in Shreveport, La. The Independence Bowl is Dec. 30, with a 6 p.m. kickoff (ESPN). No Colorado assistants have been contacted for other jobs, Hawkins said. Considering the snowy weather of recent weeks, Hawkins joked that if CU didn’t have a practice bubble, “I guess we would call up (Alabama) to see if we could have a basketball game.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
