It's probably a safe bet Jereme Richmond's uncle didn't boost his chances of this weekend of one day becoming an NBA scout.
Irate that his nephew was not selected in Thursday night's NBA draft, Crawford Richmond told the Chicago Tribune on Saturday that team executives were "fools" for not taking a chance on the former Illinois guard. Jereme averaged 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in his tumultuous lone season with the Illini, yet his uncle insisted he compared favorably with some of college basketball's top NBA prospects.
"He's way better than (No. 1 overall selection) Kyrie Irving," Crawford Richmond told the Tribune. "He's right there with (North Carolina's) Harrison Barnes. I can't tell the difference. Jereme is soft spoken and he's different, but that doesn't make him a bad person."
Those comparisons naturally have inspired some smirks and raised eyebrows in basketball circles, but amazingly it was something else Crawford Richmond told the Tribune that inspired Jereme's father to call the next day in attempt at damage control.
Crawford in part blamed Illinois assistant Jerrance Howard for planting the idea in his nephew's head that he should leave for the NBA, insisting that Howard sold Jereme on the school by telling him he was a "one-and-done." Bill Richmond refuted that statement, adding that Crawford doesn't speak for his family.
"Jereme doesn't feel that way about the process, Illinois or Jerrance Howard," Bill Richmond said. "We love Jerrance. He's like a friend to me, he really is. He's a good guy and he's never done anything but try and help our kid get to where he wanted to go."
Still silent is Jereme Richmond himself.
The freshman made an ill-advised choice to enter the draft, but most still believed an NBA team would take a low-risk gamble on him in the second round. Ultimately, however, the fact that he missed several workouts with NBA teams didn't help his stock, nor did his suspension for undisclosed reasons during the NCAA tournament last March.
"He doesn't have any character issues," Bill Richmond said. "He might have some sense of entitlement, based on being put in this position for so many years. ? It has to go into your head at some point.
"He's been humbled by this process, believe me."
Amanda Marcum Leila Arcieri Kate Mara Izabella Scorupco Carla Campbell
No comments:
Post a Comment