College stars stick around

It wasn’t long after the NBA draft had finished in 2013 that the mock drafts came out for the following year, guesses made by anyone with a website and a stray thought about where the following year’s talent would be headed.

Predictably, super prospects Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker were listed at the top. They were certain lottery picks, guaranteed to make millions as rookies in the league.

Further down the list, names such as Wayne Selden Jr. popped up – guys with loads of potential, but not such a sure thing. And while Selden would reveal glimpses of his talent during his freshman season at Kansas, his stock never did rise very much as the season progressed.

So, about the same time his teammate Wiggins was opting for the NBA after one season in Lawrence, Selden was making an equally tough decision: He would stay for at least one more year.

“We didn’t accomplish what we wanted,” he said. “I wanted more.”

He’s referring to the way Kansas was ousted in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, of course, but also the way he played. Selden struggled with a nagging knee injury. He thought another year in college could help his draft stock.

He wasn’t alone in making the difficult decision to stick around.

The Harrison twins, Aaron and Andrew, made the same choice after leading Kentucky within one win of a national title. So did teammate Dakari Johnson, Arizona small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Arkansas power forward Bobby Portis and LSU power forward Jarell Martin.

Each of them was a potential draft pick, and some of them may have even gone late in the first round, receiving the guaranteed contract that is not afforded to second-round picks. But they opted instead for one more season in college.

The business of the decision certainly cannot be discounted.

When Wiggins went No. 1 overall in this year’s draft, the Canadian swingman received a rookie contract that could max out at about $24.8 million, with roughly $11.2 million the first two years guaranteed.

UCLA’s Kyle Anderson received the last of the guaranteed deals as the final pick in the first round – a maximum of about $5.6 million and just $2.2 million guaranteed.

The first player taken in the second round, French prospect Damien Inglis, signed with the Bucks for just over $800,000 each of the next two years, with a third year unguaranteed.

In other words, every step up a player takes up the rookie wage scale pays off big.

“I’ve had players, I’ve said, ‘Do you really know what you’re doing? You know you’re probably going to go in the second round?’ ” said Kentucky coach John Calipari. “ ‘I know you’re being told you’ll go in the first round. I’m telling you, you’re going to go in the second round, maybe. What if you don’t get drafted? Are you OK?’ ”