"I'm coming back to Syracuse. There is no 'as of right now.' I'm coming back to Syracuse."
It's not often I gasp out loud when I stop by Syracuse.com. Usually if it happens its due to the the ridiculous front-page story about a man's fight to save his fish or something like that. But this time, it was even more shocking than that:
Syracuse University sophomore Jonny Flynn has signed with an agent, the Syracuse Post-Standard has learned.
Oofa. That hurts.
Flynn figures to be selected from No. 12 to No. 20 in the draft. Two websites; draftexpress.com and nbadraft.net, both have him going to the Detroit Pistons with the No. 15 pick. A third, mynbadraft.com, has Flynn going to the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 19 pick.
So that's it, Jonny? No more "let's wait and see how things look?" No more "I really want to come back, but..." I guess the "but" won. Not that I can blame him, and Jonny Flynn doesn't owe me anything, but, I would have rather just thought he was going pro from the get-go instead of grasping at the hope he would return.
So I guess Jonny's convinced he's going top ten. I mean, that's what Boeheim said it would take a couple weeks back:
"He'd have to be top 10," Boeheim said. "He came in and wants to stay and I do think he'll come back unless he's fairly high."
I always figured that if it looked like Jonny was staying, Paul would stay as well. When Harris very adamantly took the opportunity to leave and even stopped showing up at classes altogether, there was a nagging thought in the back of my mind that Paul knew Jonny wasn't coming back. Guess he did.
So that's it, folks. We appreciate all the top five and national championship contender thoughts, Sporting News, Spirts Illustrated, Big Lead et al. But we'll be settling back in the middle of the ranked pack now.
It's not terrible, but, it's certainly not what could have been.
Lesson to be learned here Syracuse fans, from now on, when one of our guys says he's going pro, agent or not, let him go the second he says it. Don't listen to anything else he says or how he qualifies it. He's not coming back.
Update: And, as if this story couldn't get any greasier, it's Leon Rose he's signing with. Thanks LeBron! Ryan Miller spoke to Jonny and Flynn said he hasn't signed yet but plans to later this week.