Devin Harris has indeed played his last game at the University of Wisconsin. The Badger star made his departure from UW official Thursday morning, announcing he will remain in the upcoming NBA draft, held June 24.
‘This was obviously a very tough decision for me, but after gathering the information from a number of sources, I just feel like it”s the best thing for me to do,’ Harris said at a press conference at the Kohl Center Thursday.
The choice was a difficult one for Harris, who initially entered the draft without hiring an agent to buy himself additional time to make his final decision. Thursday he made his choice.
‘Well, it”s definitely a lift off my shoulders,’ Harris said. ‘Last time I was really, really confused and I felt, in order to make the decision I did, to keep my options open and I needed a little more time. The time that I”ve taken, I”m a little bit happier about the situation and like I said, it”s like a lift off my shoulders.’
Harris is viewed by experts as a lottery pick lock, as teams like Washington, Toronto and Cleveland could all be in the market for a point guard of his caliber. After carefully weighing his options, the opportunity to play at the highest level was too much for Harris to pass up.
‘This opportunity that I have, it may be here next year, it may not be,’ he said. ‘I just feel that right now the best decision for me is to go and that”s what factored most into my decision.’
The 2003-04 Big Ten Player of the Year is looking forward to the challenges he will face in the NBA. One of the first adjustments he will have to make is adapting to a different style of play.
‘I think the NBA is a lot more one-on-one, besides the zone that they play, and I don”t know if the help defense is that great,’ Harris said. ‘I guess that”s something to look at. The game is a lot quicker, which plays to my pace. I guess guys can”t really key on you, especially when you have so many options because in the NBA you are playing against an All-American or great NBA player pretty much every night, so you can”t really take a night off. I guess hopefully with a good team you will have more than one person to look to and kind-of make it easier for guys to score.’
Harris ranks among the top point guards in the draft pool. He will be competing against Connecticut”s Ben Gordon and high schooler Shaun Livingston for the top spot on NBA draft boards. Brooklyn”s Sebastian Telfair, another high school entry, has received plenty of hype, but many prognosticators question his ability to succeed at the professional ranks.
‘I think I”ll be considered between the top two, depending on what the teams are looking for, they may want a younger guy, they may want a more experienced guy, but I think I”ll be in within the top two,’ Harris said. ‘It could be Ben Gordon it could be Shaun Livingston’
While Harris will depart Madison with fond memories, he believes the time is right to take his game to the next level.
‘I called Coach the other day and the first, first thing he said to me was, “It”s your time,”‘ Harris said. ‘That”s kind of what I was waiting for and it was kind of a blessing from him, and I knew as soon as I got it I knew it was the right decision for me.
