The story of Pitt freshman Carlton “Bub” Carrington quickly took flight after his first collegiate game of his career when he posted a triple-double against North Carolina A&T, becoming the first Panther and second ACC player to do so in their debut.
Carrington’s name became well-known throughout college basketball as one of the top freshmen in the country and scouts of the NBA took notice with many stopping in to watch the young talent throughout the season.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie placed Carrington to be selected at No. 24 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in one of his latest NBA Mock Drafts.
For Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, this offseason won’t be a matter of losing Carrington to another college program, but rather to the league.
“The competition with Bub will be the NBA,” Jeff Capel told the PM Team on 93.7 the Fan. “I think that’s it. Does he want to pursue a professional career now or does he want to wait another year and get better?”
Following Pitt’s season-ending loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament, Carrington did respond to a question from the media on whether he would stay and his response was: “for sure.”
However, things can change over the course of the following weeks and that decision for Carrington is still up in the air.
Luckily for Capel, he has gone through this process before as a head coach in Oklahoma with six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin.
“How I’ve always done it, and for me the first time I ever experienced anything like this as a head coach was when I was at Oklahoma and it was after the 2008 season, I had Blake Griffin. I talked to him, and I said the same thing to Bub when I met with him after the season and I met with his parents also, ‘I will get you real information. I’m able to do that with my connections, You don’t have to listen to an agent because these people are trying to get you to go because that’s how they get money. I want what’s best for you. I will give you my opinion, if you ask for it. I’m not going to tell you what you should do unless you ask,” Capel said.
While Griffin was projected as a top-five pick in the 2008 draft, he opted to stay back one more season before going number one overall in 2009.
“I came back and I met with [Griffin] and his parents after a week and I said, ‘The lowest you’ll go is four. You won’t go one. Derrick Rose will go one. Two, three and four will be between you, Mike Beasley and Kevin Love. My guess is when it’s all said and done, you’ll go two.’ Then he wanted to talk to his parents and take some time. A week later, he told me he was staying. My first question was, ‘Why? Are you serious? I need you to convince me.’ His thing was that he didn’t feel like he was ready. He didn’t feel like his game was ready, he felt like physically he could, but also the emotional part of it. He wasn’t ready yet to be a pro. He was still 18, 19 years old and he wanted when he went, he wanted to be ready,” Capel said.
Capel would give that same advice to Carrington.
“That’s the same information I would give to Bub,” he said. “I just want what’s best for him. I’m going to support them regardless. This relationship will be a lifetime relationship. Whatever they want to do, I’m going to be there to support him. If he comes back, he has a chance to be one of the best guards in the ACC, best players in the country. If he goes, he has such upside.
“He won’t turn 19 until July 21. I think he’s going to grow, and I think his best basketball is ahead of him. What it’s going to come down to with him, do you want to stay here in college and be a part of a really good team here, or do you want to be a pro and really not be a kid anymore?”
Carrington’s outstanding freshman campaign earned him ACC All-Rookie Team honors after averaging 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
The Baltimore, Md. native was a part of a young backcourt with fellow freshman Jaland Lowe and junior Ishmael Leggett that progressed into one of the best in the ACC, Capel believes.
“With those two guys and Ish, by the end of the year, I thought we had the best backcourt in the ACC and I thought we had a backcourt that could compete with anyone because those guys weren’t freshman anyone. It was really exciting to watch them grow up,” Capel said.
Now, it’s a matter if Pitt can retain that backcourt this offseason for what could be one of the most dangerous groups in the nation next season.
That’s the only somewhat recent mock draft I have seen him being even drafted. There was another one stating he’d go to the Wizards bc of the “hometown” connection late in the first round. He’s a great player, but I don’t see him getting drafted in the first round. If he declares and performs well he could maybe improve his stock to get selected in the late first round. I think his best bet would be to declare and see what he needs to improve on and return, but I’m not him. My thoughts are this yr, you’d be a… Read more »
Almost every mock I’ve seen has Bub going late first round, in about the 20-25 range. I did see one that has him going fifth(!), but that one had some other ridiculous projections (Dalton Knecht going 3rd – LOL).
I appreciate HCJC’s thoughtful remarks and thought the Blake Griffin 2008 story was fascinating.
Fascinating indeed. Like an excerpt from War and Peace lol
I like Capel’s approach …. this is a lifetime relationship. After all, it is about the young men. However it goes, best wishes to Bub. He will have a nice career whether it starts next year or year later. H2P !
I was very impressed by the remarks from Coach Capel. I hope future recruits are able to read them.