Flynn, Harris And Devo All Going Pro. Oy.

by Sean Keeley on Apr 9, 2009 2:41 PM EDT

Syracuse men’s basketball players Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris plan to enter their names into the 2009 NBA draft. Jonny Flynn has decided to submit his name for the NBA draft but will not retain an agent, enabling himself the opportunity to return to Syracuse for the 2009-10 season.

Well...now we know. Wesley Johnson, we look forward to your contributions.

So if I'm reading that correctly, Flynn will not have representation but ~~Devo and Harris will...thereby closing the doors on their careers.~~ No word yet, just speculation.

I don't begrudge any of them the chance to go pro. If I was in their shoes I'd probably do the same thing. Still, I think the biggest bummer about it is the potential walking out the door. It's potential that these guys might not have ever really lived up to but it made us hope nonetheless. What Syracuse fan didn't look at the combination of Flynn, Harris, Devo, Rautins, Wes Johnson and AO and think this was a National Championship-calibur team?

Jeff Goodman over at Fox Sports adds a note about how Harris and Devo came to the decision:

Devendorf and Harris, according to sources, came to a mutual decision with Orange coach Jim Boeheim. Both endured their share of off-court issues while in school.

I can see reasons for both leaving. I outlined Devo's earlier today and as for Harris, well, there's only so many times you can be the whipping boy before you finally move out of the way of the whip. I don't see NBA futures for either of them but they can both carve out decent careers in the world basketball leagues. If Matt Gorman and Elvir Ovcina can do it, so can Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf.

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well there goes the band, damn the man and all his money. Now let’s just see who the first is to hire an agent and chance the draft.

by Orange Chuck on Apr 9, 2009 2:55 PM EDT reply actions

I think if one rep says something along the lines of"you know, a year in Europe making money would really help your game", both will jump at the chance I am sure and don’t balme them. I technically hate the idea of people using scholarships where a true want to be student could have found a way in but I can’t hate someone for wanting to make a living for them and their families and can make more money then they imagined or they could with a degree.

by Orange Chuck on Apr 9, 2009 2:59 PM EDT reply actions

Well that's depressing...

Devo might get picked in the 2nd round, but Harris isn’t going to get to “the show”. I am surprised Boeheim agreed with them that they should go for it.

The key is Flynn returning. With Flynn we still have a Top 10 team. Especially if Wes Johnson is as good as advertised. Starting line-up next year looks like, hopefully: Flynn (PG), Rautins (SG), Wes (SF), Jackson/AO (PF/C). That’s still a damn good starting line-up if you ask me.

by Mr. Truth on Apr 9, 2009 3:01 PM EDT reply actions

I said this on the other post:

I don’t see Flynn cracking the Top Ten, especially with Lawson around. If everything we heard is true, that would mean he should be back. Harris will be missed, but all signs point to Wes Johnson being able to replace him (might have happened anyway) and quite possibly exceed him. Devo would be hard to see go. He makes some dumb plays sure, but he is also probably the most "clutch" player on the team and he is a guaranteed double-digit scorer basically every game. But at the same time I liked what I saw from Andy at the end of the year, both shooting the ball and driving and passing, so having him in that spot wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. One of the big reasons I was hoping to see at least two of the three guys back was depth. We would have had incredible depth with all or most of them. But if the three guys coming can step up, we should still have a solid bench.

Basically, I think if Wes and the incoming guys step up, we are still NC caliber provided Flynn comes back. Jackson looked better and better at the end of the year and could become a prominent BE big man alongside AO. Scoop can back up Flynn just fine, giving us depth there if Triche is ready to step into the 2 spot when Andy needs a breather (or a blow as they say). The two big questions if both Harris and Devo leave, in my mind, are replacing Harris’ rebounds and replacing Devo’s swagger and clutch shooting. Andy can replace the clutch shooting I believe. And while he may not score as much a Devo, he also doesn’t have the turnover problems, so those two things might even out. He won’t be our swagger man though. That will probably fall entirely to Flynn (not that he doesn’t have some already).

by NOLACuse on Apr 9, 2009 3:02 PM EDT reply actions

no shock that

boeheim helped paul harris come to the decision to leave. i think it went something like this,

jim: paul what are you doing in my office.
paul: coach i want to talk about next season.
jim: paul i told you to get the fuck out of syracuse weeks ago!

as far as devo is concerned, i hope he changes his mind, i might be delusional but i still think flynn is going to come back.

by orngfan on Apr 9, 2009 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

Did you mean

Devo-lusional?

by Sean Keeley on Apr 9, 2009 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

touche

by orngfan on Apr 9, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Probably not far from the truth

I heard a week or two ago that Jimmy B and Hop actually want Devo and Harris gone. I suspect they’ll hire agents before Flynn does. I’ve also heard that Flynn is still going to classes and is leaning towards staying.

by ForthCountry on Apr 9, 2009 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll just be over here in the corner

holding my breath until June 15th

by sportzbelle on Apr 9, 2009 3:12 PM EDT reply actions

As i said in the other thread I think our potential starting 5 is better then last years if Flynn comes back

You have AO at the 5, Rick at the 4, Wes at 3, Andy at 2 and Jonny at 1. All things I’ve heard about Wes is he’s a potential all Big East First teamer. Scoop compared Wes’s game to Shawn Marion’s. Wes can shoot, he can rebound and he’s super athletic. We most definitly lose some depth, but Scoop and Kris Jospeh as our 6th, 7th guys aren’t bad at all. I think we are still in NC mix providing Flynn comes back. And we will be potentially better as our TO totals will be sure to drop.

by Upstait on Apr 9, 2009 3:19 PM EDT reply actions

Wes is an upgrade over Harris

With Harris seeing his PT diminish in the late stages of this year, it’s no secret that Wes would’ve limited his time even further next year. Boeheim has stated that Wes is the best player on the team next to Flynn, and he’ll play the 3/4. That probably explains why Harris made the decision to leave now.

by pmanley03 on Apr 9, 2009 3:20 PM EDT reply actions

WE need Flynn back

That is the bottom line. Devo can be replaced with Rautins and Triche. Harris was going to be replaced in the starting lineup by Wes anyways. Probably good to strike while the irons hot. It maybe lukewarm right now but if he comes back and gets less PT it will hurt him in the long run.

We just need Flynn and we’ll be fine.

by JRSu1 on Apr 9, 2009 3:29 PM EDT reply actions

Does anyone know how much his injury hampered Mookie this year?

He was supposed to be a pretty quality player coming in, but Kris Joseph was the only freshman to see time. I’m wondering if Mookie will join him as a bench player next year. Or will Southerland be good enough to supplant both of them? Anyone know of these things? (Cause clearly I don’t.)

by NOLACuse on Apr 9, 2009 3:30 PM EDT reply actions

Southerland

the DO did an article about him being 6’ 8" 185 which is my brothers size. RAIL THIN. That kid will spend the whole game on his ass if he gets on the court or not.

by ryanwk628 on Apr 9, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

That is really thin.

He better bulk up by the time the BE season rolls around. Otherwise I agree completely.

by NOLACuse on Apr 9, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Good for the kids

Why begrudge them this decision? Let them test the water and see what happens.

If we are truly top 5 with them, we will be a good team without them. Conversely, a lot of talented teams did not make it to the final four this year. See Pitt, Duke, etc.

In contrast to Donte, these three led Syracuse somewhere. They did their part. If someone is willing to (Flynn), dumb enough to (Harris), or curious enough to (Devo) pay them very very good money to play basketball AT THIS POINT, how can we crticize? They laid it on the line every night for us as fans. I’ll support them whatever they do.

by ezcuse on Apr 9, 2009 3:49 PM EDT reply actions

I guess just once...

… I’d like to see us #1 (or even top 5) going into the season. In 1987 I was eleven years old and living in the suburbs of Cleveland, and so wasn’t a ‘Cuse fan yet. In 1996 and 2003 we didn’t have all that much hype going into the season.

by drothgery on Apr 9, 2009 5:35 PM EDT reply actions

Oof

This is a tough thing to read first thing in the morning. I have no ill will towards any of them though. They all played hard (if not intelligently) during their tenure unlike you know who. Obviously, like everyone else has said, Devo and Paul aren’t going to be playing in the NBA but they could make decent careers in another country. I would love to see them all stay – especially Johnny – and have a beast of a team next year. We’ll still be decent but we’re not going to have any depth, as usual. I can’t begrudge any athlete trying to make as much money as they can off their skill, a skill which is going to go away after a short period of time.

by Jeff E on Apr 10, 2009 8:30 AM EDT reply actions

Jeff Goodman

Isn’t he the same guy that said that we wouldn’t make it out of the first round of the tourney because Harris and Devendorf are the two dumbest players in college basketball?

by hibachi010 on Apr 13, 2009 1:50 AM EDT reply actions