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Brandon Rush actually considered going in the NBA draft right out of high school, then considered it again last year and went back to Kansas.
Now for the 3rd time, he put his name in for the NBA Draft, only to pull his name out again.
BUT--- the news is a little more ominous and unfortunate...........the reason he is pulling out again is a very serious injury.
Last Wednesday during an unsupervised workout/scrimmage game off campus, Brandon Rush suffered a severe right knee injury.
The injury has now been described as a severe right knee torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).
His own family is advising him to redshirt the entirety of next season (2007-200
in order to get back in shape enough to have a potential for playing in the NBA.
This article in a premium article but here's what it says:
"Brother: Rush has torn ACL
JaRon Rush says he advised Brandon to sit out next year
The knee injury that put Brandon Rush's NBA aspirations on hold, as well as will give Kansas one of the nation's top returning juniors, appears severe.
Rush's brother JaRon confirmed Saturday that Rush tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will be sidelined four to six months. Surgery is preliminarily scheduled for next week as long as the swelling in Rush's knee subsides.
"He's pretty down," said JaRon Rush. "He was crying to my mother a couple of days ago, but he was up again and sounded a lot better when I talked to him (Saturday)."
KU coach Bill Self reiterated Saturday that the results of tests on Rush's injured knee won't be complete until after the Memorial Day holiday.
"He'll be evaluated in detail next week," Self said. "Anything more than that is speculation. He has injured his knee. It's the same as what I said (Friday). It's in the kid's best interest to have it evaluated next week."
Rush suffered the injury Wednesday in a pickup game. An initial examination was conducted by the KU medical staff, and the tests were sent to Denver for a specialist to interpret.
The injury derailed Rush's plans to participate in the NBA predraft camp, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Orlando, Fla. With no chance to participate in that camp in front of NBA scouts, Rush opted to withdraw his name from draft consideration and return to KU.
"He's pretty down," said JaRon Rush, "because he was projected to go late in the first round, where the money is guaranteed (by contract). But he's strong, and I'm sure he'll bounce back."
The Rush brothers were legendary high school standouts in Kansas City. Kareem Rush starred at Missouri, was a first-round draft pick and now is playing professionally in Lithuania. JaRon Rush left after two seasons at UCLA, went undrafted and then played at the minor-league level.
JaRon said Brandon shouldn't try to expedite his recovery.
"I advised him not to play (next season)," Jaron said. "He can come back and play as a junior (in 2008-09). There's no rush for money. Our family has money."
Rush's AAU coach, John Walker, continues to serve as an adviser to the 6-foot-6 wing. Walker acknowledged the injury was a rough blow, but said Rush is looking forward to playing another season at KU after leading the Jayhawks in scoring each of his first two seasons.
"If he didn't get hurt and had come back to school anyway, the process of getting drafted would be good as far as where he may go in (a future) draft," Walker said. "I think this will reaffirm the progress he has made at KU, and he'll still have the opportunity to land a dream job that's been his goal.
"Even during the whole (NBA draft) process, he's been talking about the team (at KU) and the team's schedule and how competitive they could be."
Indeed, with Rush returning, the Jayhawks will have all but one player, Julian Wright, back off last season's squad, which finished 33-5 after reaching the West Regional final of the NCAA Tournament and captured the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles.
Wright, a 6-8 forward, will forgo his junior season and is projected as a lottery pick in the NBA draft, which is scheduled June 28.
In addition to participating in the pre-draft camp, Walker said individual workouts with seven NBA teams had been arranged for Rush in Orlando. Two additional workouts had been scheduled at KU in mid-June, Walker said.
"If you can't perform at maximum capacity, there's no reason to perform at all there," Walker said of the pre-draft camp. "It would have been a real nice gauge as far as where teams were leaning when it came to picking Brandon. The further you get in the process, the more informed you are to make a decision (whether to remain eligible for the draft).
"We probably had a rough gauge, but Brandon never looked at where he might be drafted as much as he compared himself with other players in the draft at his position. At that spot, he felt he compared pretty well."
Now for the 3rd time, he put his name in for the NBA Draft, only to pull his name out again.
BUT--- the news is a little more ominous and unfortunate...........the reason he is pulling out again is a very serious injury.
Last Wednesday during an unsupervised workout/scrimmage game off campus, Brandon Rush suffered a severe right knee injury.
The injury has now been described as a severe right knee torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).
His own family is advising him to redshirt the entirety of next season (2007-200
in order to get back in shape enough to have a potential for playing in the NBA.This article in a premium article but here's what it says:
"Brother: Rush has torn ACL
JaRon Rush says he advised Brandon to sit out next year
The knee injury that put Brandon Rush's NBA aspirations on hold, as well as will give Kansas one of the nation's top returning juniors, appears severe.
Rush's brother JaRon confirmed Saturday that Rush tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will be sidelined four to six months. Surgery is preliminarily scheduled for next week as long as the swelling in Rush's knee subsides.
"He's pretty down," said JaRon Rush. "He was crying to my mother a couple of days ago, but he was up again and sounded a lot better when I talked to him (Saturday)."
KU coach Bill Self reiterated Saturday that the results of tests on Rush's injured knee won't be complete until after the Memorial Day holiday.
"He'll be evaluated in detail next week," Self said. "Anything more than that is speculation. He has injured his knee. It's the same as what I said (Friday). It's in the kid's best interest to have it evaluated next week."
Rush suffered the injury Wednesday in a pickup game. An initial examination was conducted by the KU medical staff, and the tests were sent to Denver for a specialist to interpret.
The injury derailed Rush's plans to participate in the NBA predraft camp, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Orlando, Fla. With no chance to participate in that camp in front of NBA scouts, Rush opted to withdraw his name from draft consideration and return to KU.
"He's pretty down," said JaRon Rush, "because he was projected to go late in the first round, where the money is guaranteed (by contract). But he's strong, and I'm sure he'll bounce back."
The Rush brothers were legendary high school standouts in Kansas City. Kareem Rush starred at Missouri, was a first-round draft pick and now is playing professionally in Lithuania. JaRon Rush left after two seasons at UCLA, went undrafted and then played at the minor-league level.
JaRon said Brandon shouldn't try to expedite his recovery.
"I advised him not to play (next season)," Jaron said. "He can come back and play as a junior (in 2008-09). There's no rush for money. Our family has money."
Rush's AAU coach, John Walker, continues to serve as an adviser to the 6-foot-6 wing. Walker acknowledged the injury was a rough blow, but said Rush is looking forward to playing another season at KU after leading the Jayhawks in scoring each of his first two seasons.
"If he didn't get hurt and had come back to school anyway, the process of getting drafted would be good as far as where he may go in (a future) draft," Walker said. "I think this will reaffirm the progress he has made at KU, and he'll still have the opportunity to land a dream job that's been his goal.
"Even during the whole (NBA draft) process, he's been talking about the team (at KU) and the team's schedule and how competitive they could be."
Indeed, with Rush returning, the Jayhawks will have all but one player, Julian Wright, back off last season's squad, which finished 33-5 after reaching the West Regional final of the NCAA Tournament and captured the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles.
Wright, a 6-8 forward, will forgo his junior season and is projected as a lottery pick in the NBA draft, which is scheduled June 28.
In addition to participating in the pre-draft camp, Walker said individual workouts with seven NBA teams had been arranged for Rush in Orlando. Two additional workouts had been scheduled at KU in mid-June, Walker said.
"If you can't perform at maximum capacity, there's no reason to perform at all there," Walker said of the pre-draft camp. "It would have been a real nice gauge as far as where teams were leaning when it came to picking Brandon. The further you get in the process, the more informed you are to make a decision (whether to remain eligible for the draft).
"We probably had a rough gauge, but Brandon never looked at where he might be drafted as much as he compared himself with other players in the draft at his position. At that spot, he felt he compared pretty well."