Rick Pitino on Derrick Caracter

[tornado]

Louisville's Caracter has been a prima donna and a behavior problem for years, in high school and in his time in college. He has been suspended multiple times, and has work-ethic concerns. Now he's talking about going in the NBA draft.


Here is whart Rick Pitino says.........

"Rick Pitino said Wednesday it's unlikely forward Derrick Caracter will return to the Louisville Cardinals after declaring for the NBA draft.
Caracter announced his intention to enter the draft following Louisville's loss to North Carolina in the NCAA tournament last month, but has since approached Pitino about staying in school.

Pitino told Caracter, who averaged 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds this season, his game wasn't NBA-ready.

"I think he's been looking in the mirror and conning himself for a long, long time," Pitino said. "Now he's got to go and find out what the real world is like."

"(returning to Louisville) is not in the cards for him right now," Pitino said. "It's not in his best interest as well as our best interest. Our best interest and his best interest right now is to try to become a second-round draft pick. Too much has happened for him to turn around now."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3363966&campaign=rss&source=NCAAHeadlines

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6077

[PTownHawkeye]

I remember reading about this kid in Sports Illustrated when he was like 6'3 250lbs in 8th grade. He didn't seem to have a good support system at home which often seems to be the downfall of young talent. He definitely has the capability to be a superior athlete...I saw him play several times this year and saw flashes of superstardom. However, these flashes were few and way too far between. He disappears in games, doesn't hustle, never would dive for a loose ball. Guys like this would be the worst to deal with as a coach because you can see the raw talent.

I'll take the guy who doesn't have the pure talent and ego and has to work for everything he gets, but can see the desire to recruit a Derreck Caracter and try to mold him into a star.

[tornado]

Yup, his handlers failed him.

[ChewaBrave]

Yeah this story is developing. Couple weeks back he was for sure gone, along with his buddy Earl Clark, a hell of a player at Louisville. Announced just a few days ago, Clark was coming back to school, and caracter is now also looking to come back. neither kid stopped attending classes or anything so they did the right thing there, its more of a question as to whether pitino will let him back with his somewhat destructive attitude.

Last i had checked, pitino had kept a scholarship open, and a lot of rumors are floating around about how pitino just wants to scare this kid into straightening out, and recognizing how much he needs his louisville team, and his fellow players to develop.

its pretty open-ended, but pitino hasn't led me astray too often (save for those years he was at UK), so i trust the man. And push comes to shove, samardo samuels is coming in next year, and hes supposed to be a beast.