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NBA option muddies recruiting plans

Filed Under General Sports, Mississippi State Sports, SEC Sports | Posted on June 14, 2005

NBA option muddies recruiting plans
Chip Towers - Staff Atlanta Journal Constitution
Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Pop quiz, basketball fans: What’s the only college program to lose three signees to the NBA before they even set foot on campus?

Duke? Nope.

North Carolina? Guess again.

Kentucky? Right conference, wrong team.

The correct answer is Mississippi State, which signed high school All-American Monta Ellis to a letter of intent in November but fully expects the star guard to keep his name in the draft when the deadline arrives a week from today.

“You can’t fault the kid,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “Any of us put in the same situation who had the same opportunities would do it. As long as the system allows it to happen, the kids are going to continue to do it. It’s not the kids’ fault. It’s the fault of the system — and we all suffer from that.”

NBA option muddies recruiting plans