PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It wasn’t the thought when he was first recruited, but Pitt guard Bub Carrington announced he was leaving the program for the NBA Draft on Wednesday afternoon in front of school administration, his coaches and teammates at the Petersen Events Center.
It should have been a big sign when he had a triple-double in his first college game and after four games Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said he started contacting NBA teams and got favorable evaluations.
Capel called it ‘exciting and bittersweet’.
The freshman from Baltimore started all 33 games he played his freshman year averaging 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He would finish his career with a bang in that he had 20-point games in three of his last five including 24 against North Carolina and 23 points against NC State.
“I feel like I always had that mindset of getting to the next level,” Carrington said. “I never had the dream of being a one-and-done. I always knew I wanted to get to the next level, whatever I had to do to get there. Seeing the position the coaches put me in, the position this team put me in I realized I had the chance to do this a lot faster than most people.”
Carrington said he started thinking about it in the middle to the end of last year and thought about what he had to do to make this happen.
He admitted to nerves after making the final call to enter the NBA Draft, but also excitement.
“It’s something that you look at, something that you watch and something that you dream for and the fact that you are one step away, that’s where the excitement is because I can go do that,” Carrington said.”
Saturday is when he made the final decision, but really knew with games left on the schedule that he would be moving on after positive reports from the NBA.
“I think it’s great for our program,” Capel said. “Obviously, we’d love to have him back, but when you have an opportunity like this. All of these kids dream of being a pro. When I was his age I dreamed of being a pro. When you have an opportunity to do it and it’s the right opportunity right now. You have to take advantage of it.”
Related
Capel said they would be better if he were coming back, but they will be good anyway.
“It shows this is possible if you come to the University of Pittsburgh,” Capel said.