Six-foot-eleven senior Andrew Smith is looking to continue his basketball career in the U.S. or abroad.

To prepare, he’s entered St. Vincent Sports Performance’s rigorous pre-NBA draft training program, which he will continue up until the draft in late June.

“Going from college to the NBA is very different,” Smith said. “There’s no real way to simulate that except for playing in NBA games.”

Smith scored 1,147 points during his four years at Butler to go along with multiple nominations and awards.

In his senior season alone, he was a Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award finalist, posted four double-doubles and led Butler in both defensive and offensive rebounds with a combined 213 on the season.

Still, he says he has a lot of work to do, particularly in the coming months.

“He’s juggling school right now and needs to finish his internship,” said Greg Moore, sports performance specialist and strength and conditioning coach at SVSP. “But here, he’ll get individual attention outside of being part of the team.”
Moore said total body strength will definitely be a focus for Smith.

“His primary goal,” Moore said, “will be improving mobility and stability and then building a stronger foundation and range of motion.”

He said it’s still very early and  most athletes start a week or two from now. That’s good news for Smith, who has a life-changing opportunity on his hands.

But even if Smith doesn’t make the cut for the draft, there are NBA team camps in Las Vegas and Orlando in July and Euroleague events after that.

Nothing is for certain, and he’s hoping SVSP’s program can improve his skills to aid his shot at going pro.

SVSP Executive Director Ralph Reiff said St. Vincent’s top-notch, all-encompassing system has a well-deserved international reputation for being one of the best in the business.

“Our scope of services we provide to athletes is very complete from all aspects,” Reiff said. “We’re very detailed about the work we do.

“We did a lot of assessments on Andrew: how he moves, literally from his big toe to his shoulders to fingertips. We have to prepare Andrew to do things he’s never done before, and we’ve designed a very comprehensive program that addresses every aspect from physical and mental standpoint to do that.”

The staff working with Smith includes about half a dozen people. Chris Thomas of Champions Academy recently took over for nationally-renowned Ed Schilling, who departed to join the UCLA team with Steve Alford.
Smith is also getting married in a month.

He is continuing to evaluate all of his options.

“Going overseas, there are a ton of good options,” Smith said. “(My agent) knows Europe pretty well. Navigating the NBA is relatively simple, and Europe gets more complicated. But there are some very good teams there and being able to travel wouldn’t be bad either.”

Photo by Maria Porter

When Shelvin Mack left his position as a junior guard on Butler’s men’s basketball team, there were not many people who were truly surprised.

Mack left Butler a year early to enter the National Basketball Association’s 2011 draft, where he was selected by the Washington Wizards.

Since the NBA lockout began in late June, Mack has been stuck playing when he can, which includes action in Pro Am games.

Of course, it would be easy for Butler basketball fans to get on Mack about leaving since the NBA lockout got underway. Mack is unable to practice with his new team when he could have been playing with his former Bulldogs’ teammates this season.

I do not know the reasons behind Mack jumping to the NBA, and it would be wrong of me to try to assume what they might be.

However, I believe that Mack should have stayed at Butler for one more season, and I am not saying this merely because the men’s team could use him this season.

Mack is not the first college basketball player to jump to the NBA before the end of his senior collegiate season, and he certainly will not be the last.

While I do not feel there should be a rule preventing college students from entering the NBA draft, I do believe they should think long and hard about the choice they are making when they leave college early.

When a student-athlete makes a commitment to play a sport in college, the college assumes that said student-athlete will be part of the team for a full four seasons.

So what happens when a student-athlete decides to break this commitment to play the same sport professionally?

When a collegiate athlete promises to play a sport for a college and later decides he or she would rather go pro than finish his or her collegiate career, it shows that the athlete cannot be trusted with a commitment.

Who says that the athlete will not leave the professional team he or she joins after just a year of participation?

Essentially, negative conclusions can be drawn about an athlete when he or she opts out of a commitment early, and those conclusions can stay with the athlete for the rest of his or her career.

Another problem with an athlete leaving college early is the fact that he or she is not only leaving collegiate athletics—the athlete is also leaving his or her schooling prematurely.

What happens if an athlete’s professional athletic career does not pan out? His or her fallback plan would likely be whatever they were learning in college.

However, the athlete did not get a complete education and may now struggle to get a job. Finishing schooling should be a student-athlete’s primary goal during college.

When an athlete leaves college early, he or she is also abandoning the college experience that could have created great future opportunities for the athlete.

Opportunities come in a variety of forms during college, and if an athlete leaves college early, he or she could miss out on something that would have changed his or her life for the better.

Like I said before, I do not know the reasons behind Mack jumping to the NBA. He deserves the right to do as he wishes, and I hope he can have a fantastic career in professional basketball.

In the end, however, I think college athletes need to be careful what they wish for and consider all variables before leaving college early.

By Steven Peek, Colin Likas and Lance Rinker

With 82 regular season games in the books, the National Basketball Association playoffs are underway.

Sixteen teams have a clean slate and are competing for the crown. The field is a mix of strong holdovers, fresh faces and proven champions.

This leads to a question for which everyone has an answer: which team will take home the NBA Championship?

We’ve pinpointed three teams as favorites: the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Steven: With the Lakers and Spurs struggling in the Western Conference, I think the NBA champion will come from the Eastern Conference this season.

The Bulls are a tempting choice, but they are too much of a one-man show. The Pacers, a team that was under .500 in the regular season, are proving that the Bulls are vulnerable to a diverse offense.

The Miami Heat have plenty of that. They will be able to survive the weakened and unimpressive Boston Celtics to make a trip to the NBA finals.

The “Big 3”—LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh—have always been superstars. Together, however, they have worked well with their teammates as the season has progressed, yielding better performances.

As long as the team’s defense creates opportunities for transition scoring, I see no reason why that success shouldn’t continue.

James, Wade and Bosh are not going to back down in these playoffs and their teammates will not either. I think the Heat are going to emerge victorious in the end.

Colin: The NBA is going to see a changing of the guard this season and the Chicago Bulls are going to grab the franchise’s seventh championship.

The Bulls finished with the league’s best regular season record, 62-20, and they are every bit as good as that record indicates.

Derrick Rose has been on fire down the stretch, scoring 30 or more points almost every night. Joakim Noah has been everything Chicago hoped for under the net. Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng have been great when healthy and head coach Tom Thibodeau has made the team defensively sound.

Chicago is also benefitted by playing in the East, where teams are weaker and have had trouble beating the Bulls all season, as shown by the squad’s 39-13 conference record.

Chicago should not fear whoever it might meet up with in the championship series either, as the Bulls sport a 23-7 record against teams from the West.

Add all of that to a 36-5 home court record and a nine-game winning streak to end the regular season and you have  a freight train headed for a trip to the NBA finals.

Lance: Having grown up listening to my dad tell stories about the legendary Larry Bird and his championship years in Boston, I developed a hatred for the Lakers. So, it pains me to say that the Lake Show, led by 13-time NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant, is primed and ready to win its third consecutive title.

Even at the age of 32, Bryant managed to finish among the top five in scoring for the ninth straight season. Bryant is co-captain of the Lakers with veteran point guard Derek Fisher, who has teamed with Bryant to bring five championship trophies to Los Angeles.

Fisher and Bryant make up what is easily the most experienced backcourt in the postseason. The two will be complemented by a talent-laden frontcourt, featuring Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ron Artest rounds out the Lakers starting five and will share time with versatile wing-man Lamar Odom.

This is not the year that an upstart team like Oklahoma City or Chicago makes off with the title.

The changing of the guard will eventually take place, but the Los Angeles Lakers will accomplish the rare feat that is the three-peat first.

Butler University junior guard Shelvin Mack has made himself eligible for the 2011 National Basketball Association Draft. He has not hired an agent and may therefore retain his eligibility if he withdraws before May 8.

“I’m exploring my options and gathering information to see what opportunities might exist for me,” Mack said. “I’ve always had a dream to play in the NBA, and I want to make an informed decision on that possiblity.”

Mack, who started all but the “Senior Day” game this past season, led the Bulldogs in assists (131), and was Butler’s second-leading scorer in the 2010-11 season, with 16.0 points per game.

Mack overachieved in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, though, averaging 20.3 points in Butler’s six NCAA tournament games. He scored 30 points in Butler’s victory over No. 1 seed Pittsburgh and 27 in the Regional Final win against No. 2 seed Florida.

Mack was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Southeast Regional after the first four NCAA tournament games, and he was named to his second-consecutive All-Tournament Team at the Final Four.

“It’s really exciting any time you have a player and person of Mack’s caliber in a position where we can do the research on what his NBA opportunities might be,” Butler head coach Brad Stevens said. “We look forward to helping him through every step of this process and gathering information to help him with his decision.”

Mack is currently 11th on Butler’s all-time scoring list with 1,527 points, which is four points behind Wayne Burris (1973-77).

Mack is Butler’s second-consecutive underclassman to declare for the NBA Draft and second in the school’s history.

The first was Gordon Hayward, who was selected No. 9 overall by the Utah Jazz in last year’s NBA Draft.

As a Cleveland fan, I’ll admit I was ecstatic to see the Miami Heat lose to the Boston Celtics in their first game of the 2010-11 National Basketball Association season.

But as much as I enjoyed seeing the Heat struggle, I’m appalled by the recent string of hate directed at recent Heat acquisition LeBron James.

I was devastated when James announced on live television that he would be “taking his talents to South Beach.” I felt betrayed after watching James promote his choice of teams in ESPN’s one-hour special, “The Decision,” and witnessing the media circus that ensued.

But that does not excuse hateful and threatening messages.

James, via his Twitter account @KingJames, renamed Oct. 19 “Hater Day,” and he began retweeting hateful—and at points downright racist—tweets directed at his account.

“Today is Hater Day,” he wrote. “Everyone please let them get their 2 mins of fame and light! I Love You Haters. Continue to make me proud of u guys! LOL.”

One read “U r a big nosed big lipped bug eyed [racial slur]. Ur greedy, u try to hide ur ghettoness.”

Another praised James’ talent but then said, “too bad you’re a fraud.”

A third read “no one wants to hear u speak. Why dont u speak by laying ur head under a moving car.”

When I saw Cleveland fans burning James jerseys and paraphernalia in the streets of the city, I never imagined it would evolve into direct hate towards James.

He answered the criticism in an Oct. 21 article on espn.com.

“I just want you guys to see it also,” James said. “To see what type of words that are said toward me and towards us as professional athletes.

“Everybody thinks it is a bed of roses and it’s not.”

After retweeting the racist tweet, James drew media attention about the barrage of hate tweets with articles and blogs coming from USA Today, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Miami Herald, among others.

“Hater Day” has come and gone but a new Nike commercial featuring the NBA star has caused a new commotion.

In the commercial, James asks the viewer “What should I do?”

The video montage shows James in various situations asking, among other things, “Should I accept my role as a villain?” and “Should I be what you want me to be?”

The commercial spawned more hateful tweets, with one sent to James saying, “to answer ur question from your commercial, you should go kill yourself.”

It also drew criticism from the media.

Jerry Greene wrote in an Oct. 31 article on espn.com, “Doesn’t LeBron James seem a little, you know, desperate?”

Syndicated radio host Jim Rome said, “You’ve probably seen LeBron James’ new, ‘What should I do?’ Nike spot. You probably liked it and bought it.  I don’t.

“And to answer the question, what should you do: you should have just apologized for the decision and for jamming Cleveland as hard as you did.

“It would have saved you a ton of abuse and Nike a lot of time and money producing and running this spot.

“Then again, in order to apologize, usually, you have to be sorry and you’re not, or you wouldn’t have told Cleveland, just last week, that they need to just get over it.”

There’s no doubt in my eyes that James has acted selfishly and immaturely since July when he made his decision, but I’m sick and tired of hearing about it.

You can dislike an athlete, or even hate them, but that does not mean you can send hateful messages to them.

I may not like James anymore, but I hate that people can treat an athlete they’ve never met the way some people have treated him.