Take Wes' Words With A Few Million Grains Of Salt

"Johnson Says He's Leaning Toward Staying at Syracuse."  Hoy boy, if that's not a loaded headline... 

It might actually convince some SU fans to hold out hope as well. That is, if not for when Johnson said what he said.

"Losing like this is very hurtful,'' Johnson said. "It makes me lean toward going back to school. So I don't really put too much thought about going to the next level.''

Johnson was asked if the top-seeded Orange losing this early in the tournament makes it more likely he will stay as opposed to if they had made a deep tournament run.

"Yeah,'' he said. "Nobody likes to lose, especially to lose like this, the way we played with all those turnovers. But it's really undecided (going to the NBA).''

Emotional comments made mere minutes after the most soul-crushing defeat in your entire athletic career are always to be treated with just a little bit of apprehension. Syracuse fans know this all too well.

Just last year Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf were asked the same question.  While Paul admitted for the first time that he had thoughts of leaving, Jonny continued to play coy.  Meanwhile Devo flat-out said he was coming back for another year.

In other words, Wes' words are appreciated but no SU fan should really expect him to stay.

By the way, reading over that post last year reminded me of this sad Paul Harris quote that has now become downright heartbreaking:

"People would say, ‘When you get to the NBA, don’t forget me,’ " Harris said Thursday in the Syracuse locker room. "One time, a guy said it as he was walking away. I said, ‘Wait a minute. What if I don’t get to the NBA? Don’t you forget about me.’ "