Ryan Boatright was gone to the NBA – at least in his own mind.
Talking openly for the first time about his decision to return for his senior season at UConn, Boatright said Friday that in the weeks immediately following the Huskies’ win in the NCAA championship game, he decided he would forgo his final season of college eligibility.
But just before the deadline to declare for the NBA draft, Boatright changed his mind. On the same April day that close teammate DeAndre Daniels announced he was leaving early, Boatright issued a statement saying he was staying with the Huskies for his senior season.
“Actually I wasn’t even back and forth; I was pretty set on leaving,” Boatright told kendavisfiles.com. “I felt like I was ready to move on and I was ready to go to the next level. And, you know, after just talking to everybody that I respect their opinion, everybody was pretty much telling me the same thing – that one year would be great for me.
“You don’t want to go against the grain. It’s a small circle of people and they said they would respect and support whatever decision I made, but one more year won’t hurt. You can only get positives out of of one more year.”
After spending most of the summer with family in his hometown of Aurora, The Boat Show returned to Storrs Thursday night. Friday he was back in Gampel Pavilion working out with UConn’s newcomers and a few veterans who are back on campus. Boatright knows he not only inherits Shabazz Napier’s spot at point guard but he will also be counted on to provide the leadership for the 2014-15 Huskies.
“I’m the only senior,” he said.
Coach Kevin Ollie’s upcoming team would have been even younger if Boatright had joined Napier and Daniels in the draft.
Boatright’s admission that he was ready to leave comes as no surprise. He has considered the move after every season at UConn. Even though he stands only 6-foot tall and wasn’t high on any draft projections, Boatright still has the confidence he can make it in the NBA. That confidence makes him so valuable to the Huskies.
He was with the team when both the UConn men and women were honored at the White House. But when Napier threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park before a Red Sox game, Boatright didn’t join his teammates.
A week before decision day, rumors were heavy around the program that he would join Daniels in leaving early.
“Going through the tournament, winning those games, you think about it but it’s not your main focus,” Boatright said. “Your main focus is winning the next game and getting better. But in the back of your head, you think about [the draft]. It’s a lifetime goal that you want to achieve.
“[In the locker room] after we won [the championship game] I was still kind of 50-50 because I just didn’t know yet. But a week or two went by and I was pretty set on leaving.”
UConn guard Ryan Boatright was the defensive star of the NCAA tournament (Ken Davis photo)
“Politics start playing into it and I thought it was the best time to leave,” Boatright said. “But other people told me it was one more year to put on weight, another year to have more experience, and to show scouts – and show the world – that I can run the team. I can be the starting point guard on a team, because all these years I’ve been a combo guard.”
Boatright and Ollie both looked back on the decision process during interviews for an upcoming season preview to be published in Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Ollie said he supplied information for his player during that process but understood it was a difficult decision.
“He talked to his parents,” Ollie said. “He reached out to a lot of different people to get advice for his decision. I know him and DeAndre are very, very close. It’s been well documented that [they said] ‘We came in together; we’re leaving together.’ But I’m glad he thought about it and [decided] what’s good for DeAndre might not be good for me.’ DeAndre’s a different person.
“I’m glad he came back. I think he saw a model in Shabazz that could have gone out last year. Who knows if he had been drafted – or maybe it would have been the second round. You just never know.”
“I actually thought when I told him I was going to come back, I thought he was going to come back too,” Boatright said. “He actually surprised me and went on about his business. But he made the best decision for himself. It’s all love for me and DeAndre.”
After making his own decision, Boatright could only watch as NBA teams such as the Lakers and Cavaliers showed interest in Ollie, who had the hottest name in coaching after leading the Huskies to their fourth NCAA title in school history.
“I was never extremely worried,” Boatright said. “When I decided I was coming back to school, I had a conversation with KO on the phone. He assured me he wasn’t going anywhere. I really wasn’t nervous.”
Now Boatright is focusing on the task ahead. The Huskies will be young but have tremendous talent and depth at the guard positions. For the first time in his UConn career, Boatright will not share the starting backcourt with Napier. It’s extremely likely that sophomore Rodney Purvis, an explosive and athletic transfer from North Carolina State, will start at shooting guard.
Those two have already developed a strong chemistry while Purvis sat out last season and recovered from shoulder surgery.
“There’s not another guy in the country I’d rather play along side,” Purvis said earlier this week.
Boatright feels the same way.
“Rodney is just gifted,” he said. “He’s 6-4 and he’s put together like a tank. Rodney is a prolific shooting guard.”
In workouts Friday, Boatright went head-to-head with Daniel Hamilton, the highly-rated and versatile perimeter player from Los Angeles. Hamilton will likely crack the starting lineup early in the season – if not in the first game.
“I had to school him today; had to teach him a little something,” Boatright said. “Had to let him know he’s a freshman.”
That’s a job for a senior, and thanks to Boatright, the Huskies have an elder statesman on their roster again.
One more year of school.
The NBA will have to wait.
CALHOUN ALL-STAR GAME APPROACHING
Jim Calhoun’s Celebrity Classic Charity All-Star game is rapidly approaching and it appears the usual cast of characters will be returning to join Napier and Daniels. The unofficial list of participants includes Jeff Adrien, Ray Allen, Taliek Brown, Scott Burrell, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Daniels, Rip Hamilton, Jeremy Lamb, Donny Marshall, Donyell Marshall, Napier, A. J. Price, Charlie Villanueva and Kemba Walker.
The game is Aug. 8 at Mohegan Sun and starts at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Jim and Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn. Tickets and other information can be found here.
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