CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, April 28, 2006 7:00 pm
Aleks Maric has made no secret about his desire to play in the National Basketball Association. But Maric’s latest move could have easily thrown his coaches, teammates and Husker fans for a loop.
On Saturday, the final day players could submit their name for early entry into the June 28 NBA Draft, the 6-foot-11, 265-pound junior-to-be from Sydney, Australia, announced that he had filed.
The news came one day after the coach who recruited Maric to Nebraska, Scott Spinelli, left to accept a similar assistant’s position at Wichita State.
So what does Maric’s decision mean to NU? Possibly nothing.
“I have decided to enter my name, and have done that without hiring an agent to protect my NCAA eligibility,” Maric said in a statement released through the university. “I wanted an opportunity to check my status as a possible first-round NBA draft pick. Should I decide to withdraw from the draft, I fully intend to return to NU for my junior season.”
The deadline for players to withdraw from the draft is June 18. Maric joins 56 other players who have filed for early entry.
Maric was out of town an unavailable for further comment, but will have more to say after taking his final exams next week.
A member of Australia’s 2003 National team that won the Under-20 World Championships and also a starter on last year’s Under-21 squad that finished fourth, Maric came to Nebraska after playing his senior year of high school ball at Life Center (N.J.) Academy.
At Nebraska, he set the school freshman rebound record and tied another by recording three double-doubles while averaging 8 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds.
Last season, Maric earned honorable-mention All-Big 12 Conference honors by averaging 10.9 points on 47.2 percent shooting and a team-high 8.1 rebounds. He also committed 55 turnovers. Maric’s highlight moment came when scored 37 points, the fifth-highest total in school history, during a win at Iowa State. That game helped him average 12.9 points in Big 12 Conference play. His rebound average also went up to 9.4 against league opponents (No. 1 among Big 12 players).
Maric also ranked in the league’s top 10 with 39 blocks.
“We are totally in support of Aleks and his goal of playing in the NBA. Being able to test the draft waters and still preserve his collegiate eligibility is very important to Aleks and us,” Nebraska coach Barry Collier said in the release. “We’ve known since the day we began recruiting him that his desire is to play in the NBA and we want to continue to work with him to reach that goal.”
Maric’s value to the Huskers was evident when Collier excused him from a Dec. 21 game against Alabama A&M so he could return to Australia and spend Christmas with his family.
If he comes back, he’d be Nebraska leading returning scorer and rebounder, and likely a second-year captain.
And if DraftExpress Daily is right, Maric ought to be back.
This is what the internet site wrote about the Australian:
“Maric is a big bruiser who likes to play with his back to the basket but lacks the athleticism that NBA teams usually look for in a center. He is hoping to get into the Orlando pre-draft camp and work his way into the first round of the draft. At this point that appears highly unlikely.”
The NBA Draft is a two-round affair limited to 60 players. Only first-round picks receive guaranteed contracts.
The last Nebraska player to enter the NBA Draft prior to his senior season was Tyronn Lue in 1998. Lue ended up being taken as the 23rd overall pick by Denver.
Former Husker Tony Farmer also declared himself available following his junior season in 1991, but that was primarily because he was looking at being ruled inelgible as a senior for violating NCAA extra-benefit rules.
The last Husker taken in the NBA Draft was Venson Hamilton, a second-round pick of Houston in 1999. Hamilton never played in the league.
Maric’s status might be helped by the fact that the new NBA collective bargaining agreement stipulates that players must be one year removed from their high school graduating class in order to declare themselves eligible to be drafted. A total of 10 prep players were selected in last year’s draft.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.