Rick Pitino expected Samardo Samuels to return to school last spring even after the center initially entered the draft without an agent, so it surprised the Louisville coach when the projected late second-round pick announced he was NBA-bound.
As a result, Pitino said Tuesday that he's approaching Terrence Jennings' flirtation with the NBA differently than he might have previously. Instead of assuming Jennings will return to school since he's projected to be selected in the late second round if at all, Pitino said he's not expecting to have the junior center back next season.
"As far as I'm concerned, he's not coming back," Pitino told reporters Tuesday. "That's the way I'm looking at it. Last time I talked about Samardo, I said, 'No, don't worry about it.' So as far as I'm concerned, this is the way I'm looking at all these situations."
The comments from Pitino are in stark contrast to what he said about Jennings as recently two weeks ago. On April 13, Pitino told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he believed Jennings would return to Louisville since a lack of an NBA summer league and a condensed training camp would make it more difficult for someone in Jennings' position to make a roster.
"(Jennings) would have to have great workouts for him to go," Pitino said at the time. "I fully expect him to be back. His situation, unlike Samardo's, is not where his parents are in dire need financially."
That Jennings would enter the NBA draft even without an agent came as a bit of a surprise since he averaged a pedestrian 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds on a balanced Louisville team this past season.
Pitino said he'd emailed every NBA general manager telling them to contact him if they have any interest in Jennings. The 6-foot-9 junior has until May 8 to decide whether he'll remain in the draft or return to Louisville for his senior season.
Perhaps one of the reasons Pitino isn't lobbying Jennings to stay another year is because he knows the Cardinals aren't hurting for depth next season, especially in the paint. 6-foot-10 center Gorgui Dieng showed promise off the bench throughout his freshman season and highly touted 6-foot-10 freshman Zach Price also appears capable of making an immediate impact.
"We're very strong at that position," Pitino said. "We've got two outstanding five men in Gorgui Dieng and Zach Price. We're fine with that. And if another young man wants to come and join that, that's fine as well."
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