relate them to this!!!!!!
Posted on Fri, Mar. 07, 2003
Local prep star may turn pro
Hopkins' Kris Humphries, signed to play at Duke, is looking into entering the NBA draft
BY GREG JOHNSON
Pioneer Press
William Humphries, the father of Hopkins High School basketball star Kris Humphries, has begun exploring the idea of his son entering the 2003 NBA draft.
According to the elder Humphries, the process started last week after a conversation with his son, who has signed a letter of intent to play for Duke University this fall.
"If the feedback is positive and he performs well in individual workouts, he'd go in a heartbeat,'' William Humphries said. "If he can go in the first round, and the chances are he will be taken by a team that has the reputation of developing a young player, you have to consider it.''
Only rookies drafted in the first round receive guaranteed money for their first three years in the NBA. Last year, point guard Dan Dickau was the last player selected in the first round and received a four-year, $4.118 million contract.
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Humphries has played against Kevin Garnett and several of his Timberwolves teammates during the summer and against many of the nation's top high school seniors in all-star camps.
"From what I've been told, whether I go to Duke or not, it's a good idea to express my interest so the NBA starts to follow you,'' Kris Humphries said. "The NBA always has been an ultimate goal of mine, but in the last year, it has become more of a reality.
"I played against guys like (Syracuse freshman) Carmelo Anthony and (fellow Duke signee) Luol Deng, and I more than held my own. I just want to gather some information. I haven't talked to the coaches at Duke, but the guys they recruit, they know this is always a possibility. Last year, (current Duke freshman) Shavlik Randolph did the same thing.''
High school players wanting to enter the June 26 draft must inform the league by May 12. Once a prep player enters his name, he loses college eligibility.
"I think he should go to Duke,'' said Chris Monter, the editor and publisher of the Monter Draft and College Basketball News. "If he puts his name in, I think it would be a mistake. I like him a lot as a player and I voted for him in the Top 10 for Naismith Award.
"I think people make a mistake thinking about the guaranteed money over the first contract. The bigger money comes in the second contract. Look at a guy like Mike Dunleavy, who left Duke early last year. He's hardly playing for Golden State right now.''
Humphries has led Hopkins to a 22-4 record this season and is averaging 25.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 5 assists a game. Last summer, as a member of the U.S. Junior World Championship Qualifying Team, he was the third-leading scorer (9.0) behind Anthony and Chris Bosh, freshman standouts at Syracuse and Georgia Tech.
He also has been selected to play in the McDonald's High School All-America Game on March 26 in Cleveland and the Jordan Capital Classic on April 17 in Washington, D.C.
Ohio prep phenom Lebron James, who will be Humphries' teammate in the Jordan all-star game, and Darko Milicic of the former Yugoslavia are projected to be the top prospects in the draft.
"The spots from No. 3 through 29 is anybody's guest,'' said former 11-year NBA veteran Trent Tucker, who with former Timberwolf Chris Carr has worked with Humphries on the physical and mental approaches to the game. "From my understanding, it's a pretty open draft. Teams have to take somebody.''
Tucker said he would help the Humphries family go through any information it came across in its search.
"High school players going to the NBA is not a far-fetched idea anymore,'' Tucker said. "When I was going into the University of Minnesota, I knew I had to show I could be a standout player in college over four years to have a shot of playing in the NBA. Today, there are kids between 6 feet 8 and 6 feet 10 and 250 pounds coming out of high school. It's the sign of the times today that the best of the high school kids can skip the middle man
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