[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

Memphis Commercial Appeal-

In his first public comments since being ruled ineligible to play for the University of Memphis this season, freshman wing Will Barton said Saturday he will consider all options if his NCAA appeal is denied, including perhaps sitting out as a redshirt and getting ready to play college basketball in 2011-12.

“I’m going day by day with this,” Barton said. “Right now I’m really confused; I don’t know what’s going on. Whenever the final decision comes, that’s when I’ll think about it. There’s a lot of stuff going on in my head.”

Barton said he was crushed Wednesday night when he learned about the decision to deny his freshman eligibility, but it did not catch him completely off-guard. Though there were academic problems from early in his high school career that he had to recover from, the main issue for Barton was his graduation date from Lake Clifton High in his hometown of Baltimore.

Because Barton graduated two months late, he technically did not meet the NCAA’s new requirement for all freshmen to finish high school in eight semesters. Barton said he was not aware at the time that those two months could be a problem for him, as he had already planned to take a postgraduate year at Brewster Academy prep school last year and reclassify as a 2010 recruit.

Regardless, Barton declined to say his situation was unfair.

“I got it together my 11th and 12th year, my prep year, but not taking care of business early in life, you can’t blame anyone but yourself,” Barton said. “If you have dreams of going to college and playing basketball, you need to think about it early. And that’s my fault. I was the one going to school. I should have been doing my work.”

It’s now a waiting game for Barton, who wouldn’t commit to anything beyond finishing his summer school class this week. Memphis is allowed to help Barton find legal representation for an appeal if he chooses to pursue it.

If an appeal renders no change in Barton’s status, however, his options would appear to be the following:

Barton could remain at Memphis as a partial qualifier and practice with the team. If he is on track academically after his freshman year, he would be eligible to play in 2011-12. Several players have taken that route, notably Penny Hardaway at Memphis in 1990-91 and Dwayne Wade at Marquette in 2000-01.

He could try to get a contract overseas before entering next June’s NBA Draft, following the same path as Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings.

Barton could also play in the NBA Developmental League next season and then declare for the draft, similar to former Memphis signee Latavious Williams.

Though Memphis coach Josh Pastner can’t talk specifically about Barton’s eligibility due to privacy laws, he said he wants Barton to carefully consider all possibilities before making a decision.

“He’s a really good person. Right now he’s struggling because it’s something that possibly could be taken away from him that he loves,” Pastner said. “It’s not always about the short-term stuff, it’s what is best for the long-term. Sometimes when you’re a young person and it could be taken away from you, it’s hard to accept that, and I can understand that, but we’re going to be as supportive as possible.”

One wildcard in Barton’s decision could be the possibility of an NBA lockout in 2011-12. If NBA owners and the players’ association fail to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, there will still be a draft next June but any players taken would have to wait until the end of the lockout before collecting an NBA paycheck.

In other words, if Barton turns pro now, he could be two years away from playing in the NBA anyway if labor strife takes away the entire season, as many have predicted.

“All that is going into account with me and my decision,” Barton said. “I could get hurt just walking out the door. I’m hearing there might be a NBA lockout. Who knows what’s really going to happen. I really just don’t know. I just need time to think about it, weigh my options and come up with the best solution for me.”

If he leaves Memphis, the question is whether Barton would find a pro situation to help him become a lottery pick in 2011 while also providing him an attractive landing place for two years if there’s an NBA lockout.

The NBDL would strictly be a decision based on basketball, not finances, as salaries average around $30,000 per year. European teams pay more, but it’s difficult to say how much a player like Barton would command. Though he was a top-10 recruit, Barton doesn’t have the kind of name recognition or hype that helped Jennings land a $1.6 million contract and shoe deal in Italy. And even at that, Jennings had a rough experience professionally and culturally, playing very little and often not getting paid on time.

With European teams feeling the pinch from global economic problems, it’s unlikely another American player out of high school could get anything close to that. There’s also the possibility European teams will try to poach current NBA players if there’s a lockout, limiting the potential spots for a player like Barton.

Barton acknowledged that agents have been trying to get in contact with him — “people know people, so things get back to me,” he said — but said he isn’t speaking to any directly.

“I’m not going to make this decision to please anybody. Whatever I do, I need to do it for me,” he said. “I can live with making a decision as long as I made it. I can’t live with nobody making a decision for me and if it messes up and I didn’t do it my way I could blame someone else. I don’t want to blame anybody but me.”

[apb540Participant]

I am impressed with Barton’s maturity. He could of very easily taken the easy way out and blamed the system.

[McDunkin]

Im suprised he would consider this as a choice. The media made it seem like the nbdl or europe was a lock for him

[cavsforlifeParticipant]

there need to be more top notch high school recruits with that type of character and commitment. The college game is becoming one year wonders and will barton seems like one high class guy who is honest and wants what is best for him even if it takes him longer to get to the NBA.

[kanyedabestParticipant]

realistically speaking he has one option, which is to take the route tht penny and dwade took in essentialy red-shirting 1st year. He is too inexpreienced and too skinny/fragile to play in the pro game…. once you go the pro route there is no going back and you are forced to become man and once your a man you learn lessons the hard way

[canesboy6Participant]

I’m not sure thats the case for Barton. This article just said he would consider it, not that its his only option. He has already done a prep year, so if he was THEN gonna redshirt, he would be 21 or 22 by the time of the draft, if he was to leave after his freshman year. If he has been a troubled student in the past, why would he go sit, risk failing and losing his eligibility, practice for a year for free, when he has a guaranteed $30,000 in D League, or he could make more in Europe. He isn’t Brandon Jennings, but he isn’t quite Jeremy Tyler either. He is 19 and has handled this process well, why not make money now?

I’m all for kids that belong in school staying in school, but some kids are already pro’s and there is a chance to go to Europe for maybe over $100,000, travel and learn to be a professional. No brainer to me, Europe, or if he is truly not ready to leave home, D-League.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

Heaven forbid a player be 21 or 22 when he enters the draft. According to the Nike Hoops Summit roster, Barton was born 1/6/91. This means if he sits out a year, he will start his college career at the age of 20. Elias Harris was 20 as a freshman as was Hassan Whiteside. Heck, Taj Gibson was 21 as a freshman at USC. It isn’t a big deal. I tend to believe that if it is solely about basketball going to the NBDL would get him better coaching and better competition. The problem there is that he is a twig (listed at 161 lbs). He might always be a twig, but that weight against grown men might be troublesome.

Also, it is incredibly foolish for the NCAA to punish a kid for lacking the awareness or maturity of a kid to care about school at the age of 14 or 15. The University of Memphis accepts GED students and does not have stringent admission standards for freshman admissions. Having a universal standard makes no sense.

[scoutguruParticipant]

Agreed bothteamsplayedhard. Wes Johnson was 23 and he was just taken #4. Age is not relevant here, if you can play you can play. If he has to sit out this year, hopefully redshirting will allow him to put on some weight, do what he has to do in the classroom, and practice with the team and work on his game to better prepare him for when he finally get on the court. If he spends a year or two playin ball, working towards his degree, while making deep ncaa tourney runs, no doubt he’ll be a guy the nba looks at. And from what I hear, he’s a good prospect, but not clear cut lotto pick like some other guys, so maybe those other options won’t be too wise for a guy in his position.

And about this whole 8 semesters rule, it makes absolutely no sense to me. Cause the way I look at it, what if I go to summer school in btw my years of hs, say btw soph and jr yr or jr and sr year, essentially, thats an extra semester of school and that means you didn’t graduate within the set amount of 8 semesters. What difference does it make if its after your graduating class is suppose to graduate that you spend the extra semester. I know Jayvaughn Pinkston who’s from out here in Brooklyn, he went to summer school btw his jr and sr years, and although there were rumblings about his eligibility, he seems to be eligible with no problems. And the way I look at it, its not like Barton didn’t pass his sat or act or just had a poor gpa and didn’t qualify, its just two stupid months of school, for that to cost his frosh eligibility is crazy. And he did a whole year of prep school to, doesn’t that count as extra semesters (i may be pushin it here, but i’m mad at the ncaa). But w/e, he seems to be very mature and understanding of the situation, and I hope it all works out for him. I just feel bad that its like he basically did that prep year for nothing. Smh, damn ncaa with their (new) rules.

[WildDudeParticipant]

I’ll admit I was definitely surprised when Renardo Sidney didn’t take the DLeague/Euro route but it seems like these guys have a good head on their shoulders and want to be part of the college experience which I respect. Another reason Will Barton may be doing this is he really wants to play with his brother again, another reason why he committed to Memphis in the first place, because it was the only mutual offer between the two. I think if we see Renardo Sidney having a great year, it may be more common for a player to sit out a year because they can benefit greatly with practices and learning from a college coach to teach them about life. You just don’t get that in the DLeague/Europe because you are basically thrown into the big dogs and you’ll have to figure it out on your own. Brandon Jennings is a rare exception, while Jeremy Tyler seemed like he made the wrong choice because he is still just a kid and for Latavious Williams who took the DLeague route, it took a while for him to really break in but he did finish strong towards the end of the year.

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