Obviously, not what he was hoping for...
Gabe rolled the dice and it came up snake eyes. When I was at the sweet 16 in East Rutherford I was talking to a guy at halftime who thought it was time for Nick Young to go to the pros but thought that Gabe Pruitt needed an extra year. While hindsight is 20/20 that gentleman couldn't be more right. There have been some interesting theories as to why Gabe decided to go pro. His academic issues were probably the tipping point as it was revealed that he would have been academically ineligible in the fall, unless he made up for it in summer school, but it was not to be as Pruitt fell to the 2nd round and was picked by Boston.
Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt obviously went about their commitment to the NBA differently and a couple of things are in play here. Young did consult Coach Tim Floyd about his decision while Pruitt went his own way. There has been some speculation on some message boards about Coach Floyd's involvement, or lack-there-of, in Pruitt's decision to leave school. Pruitt must have known two things: 1) that his grades were in the tank and 2) that Coach Floyd would have advised him against declaring for the draft. The way I see it IF Pruitt was determined to go to the NBA then he should have taken his pre-draft workouts more seriously.
It has been noted that the scouts thought that Pruitt was a bit soft in his workouts and that maybe he didn't take the process seriously. I am not going to try and out think the NBA, but it would seem to me that if you're serious about the Draft then you should take every opportunity make the best impression.
From the Press-Enterprise:
And that's what matters most today, getting into the first round, where the contracts are guaranteed.
Bilas' evaluation makes the point that Pruitt, who chose not to play at the NBA predraft camp in Orlando in May, could have hurt himself compared to several players who did.
[...]Although Pruitt has told Young he felt his individual workouts "have gone well," there's a special problem for a point guard in workouts that usually involve just two-on-two competition.
"I spent a lot of time off the ball in college," Pruitt told the Arizona Republic when he worked out for the Phoenix Suns. "I just got moved to the point guard position this year, so people didn't really get a feel of what I could do. That's probably why that's a question."
You gotta put the work in if you want to reap the rewards, that's just how it goes.
There has also been some message board speculation that Coach Floyd may not have gone the extra mile for Gabe with some of the NBA GM's that Floyd may be close to. Who knows, but if coach Floyd did talk to some GM's I have no doubt that he was honest in his comments and I am confident that he would never undermine Gabe because he didn't agree with his decision.
So there it is. We wish Gabe the best of luck in Boston. They have a lot of work to do up there and I am hopeful that will be a significant part of their rebuilding process.
Good Luck Gabe!
FIGHT ON!