First-year Colorado men’s basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik should not be surprised if he gets some razzing from his Big 12 colleagues at the league’s tournament this week in Kansas City.
On Monday’s Big 12 teleconference, Bzdelik was asked if players such as Texas sophomore D.J. Augustin and Kansas State freshmen Michael Beasley and Bill Walker, and Oklahoma freshman Blake Griffin looked ready for the NBA.
“Being in the NBA for so many years, I can tell you that, if you’re not going to stay for four years, you might as well come out,” Bzdelik said. “The NBA game is different than the college game … you might as well just go ahead and learn the NBA game and make another year’s amount of money.
“I hope I don’t give the impression that I want everybody to come out. All I’m saying is, I look at it from an NBA perspective. … You go to college to make a living for yourself. The majority of normal students need to get a degree. (But) if you’re talented enough to play basketball, why not? Why wait if you’re good enough? You can have that money and come back and finish your degree.”
When asked about CU senior guard Richard Roby, Bzdelik said, “To be quite frank and honest about it, he’s not in the same light as those players I just mentioned. He’ll be, I think, considered in the next tier.”
