While Kentucky and Wisconsin were playing tonight, I kept imagining Wildcat players walking up to their Badger counterparts and saying, “No matter what, kid, I’ll be in the NBA making millions next year …”
Which is both valid and prophetic. It also reminds me of a funny story.
Back during my junior year at the University of Delaware, the Blue Hens (coming off of a 27-4 season) were playing Seton Hall in the pre-season NIT Tournament at the Meadowlands. The game was sorta close for a while (UD trailed by six at the half), but ultimately Delaware lost badly, 75-54. Throughout the evening I noticed a fair amount of chirping between Terry Dehere, Seton Hall’s star guard, and Ricky Deadwyler, the Hens’ three-point specialist. Afterward, while the players dressed in the locker room, I asked Rick what his counterpart had been saying. Deadwyler, always a fun-loving guy, laughed.
“He promised me,” he said, “that next year, when he’s in the NBA, he’ll let me carry his bags.”
A couple of months later, Dehere was drafted 13th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. He spent six years in the league.
I’m quite certain Ricky Deadwyler never worked for him.
