Tuesday, Lance Stephenson said he expects to be back at UC next year and he "didn't have an NBA-type season."
It's a sigh of relief for Bearcats fans and, from my angle, should also be a sigh of relief for Lance Stephenson fans.
At my last stop in Albany, Ga., I had the opportunity to do a four-part series on Dontonio Wingfield. He was a superstar there in Albany, annointed across the state as the best HS hoops player in the Peach State by many.
The amount of pressure put on Dontonio was absurd. The spotlight was bright. He came to UC and shocked everyone when he decided to bolt after his freshman season. If my old paper had any kind of archive system, I would point you in the direction of the series to read his incredible story of what happened.
Long story short, his life went up into a ball of missed opportunities, immaturity, eight kids and one life-changing car accident that ended his NBA career before it really began.
Dontonio, 34, said one thing to me in the powerful interviews we did about how he thought leaving UC early was one of the biggest reasons immaturity got the best of him. It was one of the few times he got truly angry when we talked. He realizes now if he would have developed a little bit more maturity before heading to the league, he could have made it into a league where he wasn't short on talent, but short on committment.
Here is an excerpt from the portion about his decision to bolt UC:
http://cnati.com/blogs/paul/2010/02/lance-stephenson-and-dontonio-wingfield.php
It's a sigh of relief for Bearcats fans and, from my angle, should also be a sigh of relief for Lance Stephenson fans.
At my last stop in Albany, Ga., I had the opportunity to do a four-part series on Dontonio Wingfield. He was a superstar there in Albany, annointed across the state as the best HS hoops player in the Peach State by many.
The amount of pressure put on Dontonio was absurd. The spotlight was bright. He came to UC and shocked everyone when he decided to bolt after his freshman season. If my old paper had any kind of archive system, I would point you in the direction of the series to read his incredible story of what happened.
Long story short, his life went up into a ball of missed opportunities, immaturity, eight kids and one life-changing car accident that ended his NBA career before it really began.
Dontonio, 34, said one thing to me in the powerful interviews we did about how he thought leaving UC early was one of the biggest reasons immaturity got the best of him. It was one of the few times he got truly angry when we talked. He realizes now if he would have developed a little bit more maturity before heading to the league, he could have made it into a league where he wasn't short on talent, but short on committment.
Here is an excerpt from the portion about his decision to bolt UC:
http://cnati.com/blogs/paul/2010/02/lance-stephenson-and-dontonio-wingfield.php
