LAWRENCE | For much of the last 14 years — since JaRon Rush first stepped foot on campus at Pembroke Hill in the fall of 1994 — at least one of the Rush brothers has been playing organized basketball in the Kansas City area.
But the Rush era in KC hoops officially ended Thursday when, as expected, Kansas guard Brandon Rush announced his intention to declare for the 2008 NBA draft. It was also no surprise when Darrell Arthur, sitting to Rush’s left at an afternoon news conference, announced that he, too, would declare for the draft without hiring an agent.
By not hiring an agent, Arthur will keep alive his college eligibility and have the option of returning to KU for his junior year. Arthur, a sophomore forward from Dallas, said he probably will stay in the draft if he is projected to be picked in the top 15. He has until June 16 to withdraw his name from draft consideration. The draft is June 26.
Rush, however, cannot return to KU because college players are only allowed to enter the draft without an agent one time. Rush tested the waters last year and tore his right ACL preparing for NBA workouts, forcing him to come back to Kansas for his junior year.
There are no regrets, of course. Not after cutting down the nets in San Antonio and doing something that neither brother, JaRon nor Kareem, ever came close to accomplishing.
“I definitely had a fun time these last three years,” Rush said. “It’s been a dream for me, and I’ll always be proud to be a Jayhawk.”
Rush said he has heard that he will probably be a late first-round or early second-round pick in the June draft. KU coach Bill Self indicated that Arthur needs to perform well at workouts with NBA teams to insure that he’ll be in the top 15. Right now, NBADraft.net projects Arthur to be picked 14th and Rush to go 19th.
Self, for his part, didn’t sound like a guy bummed to be losing Rush, his leading scorer of the last three seasons, and possibly Arthur, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the national championship game. Self felt lucky all along to get three years out of Rush, who declared for the draft as a high school senior before choosing to play college basketball.
“I totally support both of these decisions,” Self said. “Brandon is at a point in time where it’s time for him to move on, and Shady (Arthur) is at a point in time where he owes it to himself to investigate. Because I think he could be a very high draft pick if in fact things go right.”
While Self will mostly let Rush navigate through the draft process with the help of his agent — Rush has yet to decide on one — Arthur is a different story. Self said it’s too early to know exactly what the plan will be for Arthur, particularly whether or not Arthur will attend the NBA predraft camp in Orlando, Fla. Self will help Arthur compile information and also do his best to protect Arthur from the agents who will inevitably pursue him.
“He’s going to be a first-round draft pick,” Self said. “The question is, where is he gonna go? We have a feel for the range he would go in right now, and he’s totally comfortable with that feel.
“If he could be a fifth pick next year as opposed to the 20th pick this year, it would probably be in his best interest to be a fifth pick.”
Rush may not have as high of a ceiling as Arthur, but Self does think that Rush can improve his stock simply by being healthier and showing more of his athletic ability.
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