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Word on the Street: Agent Hirings and Early-Entry Speculation

Word on the Street: Agent Hirings and Early-Entry Speculation
Apr 18, 2006, 01:37 am
The latest news and rumors about who is hiring who and which underclassmen might be entering.

Morrison’s Press Conference Coming Wednesday

DraftExpress exclusively reported Sunday night that Adam Morrison will be announcing a press conference sometime this week to declare his intentions to enter the 2006 NBA draft as well as announce the hiring of Chicago-based agent Mark Bartelstein. Sources today reconfirmed Morrison’s hiring of an agent and informed us that his press conference is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Expect the mass media to catch on tomorrow with their “sources” about 48 hours after the fact and claim it as their own as they did with Tyrus Thomas today.

Thomas by the way announced he signed with Elfus and Siegel Management today, which sent out some shockwaves in the NBA agent world. Elfus and Siegel showed that even the little guys can sign the big fish sometimes. Their only NBA client up until now? You guessed it, fellow Louisiana native Randy Livingston, who went to LSU himself.

Shelden Williams Continuing With Redick

Multiple sources confirmed to us today that Duke Senior Shelden Williams will sign with Arn Tellem‘s Wasserman Media Group. This marks the third signing of a top 10 player on our 2006 mock draft by Tellem’s WMG. Their other two signees are Williams’ teammate J.J. Redick and Washington Shooting Guard Brandon Roy. Tellem’s group is also reportedly in the mix for another top 10 big man pick in Texas Sophomore LaMarcus Aldridge, along with Chris Bosh’s (who’s from Texas) agent Henry Thomas, a third Texas native in Emeka Okafor’s Jeff Schwartz, and Las Vegas native Mike Higgins.

UConn Players Preparing for the NBA Draft

With Rudy Gay’s announcement to enter the draft today, UConn’s could end up going into the 2006-2007 season with Jeff Adrien (6.5 ppg) as their top returning scorer.

All of UConn’s players will work out in Storrs with the coaching strength and conditioning staff until the end of the semester in early May. This is to ensure they leave on good academic standing and UConn doesn’t have scholarships taken away according to NCAA rules on graduation rates.

After a bit of wavering, Junior Point Guard Marcus Williams is rumored to have agreed to be represented by BDA (Bill Duffy Associates) Sports Management. He will make his announcement known in a press conference next week.

Senior shooting guard Rashad Anderson, coming off a solid performance at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, will sign with New York City based agent Andy Miller.

Senior PF/C Hilton Armstrong will sign with Emeka Okafor’s agent Jeff Schwartz from Los Angeles. Shwartz also represents UConn head coach Jim Calhoun.

Rudy Gay is also apparently being heavily recruited by Schwartz, as well as by Worldwide agency Octagon and New York City based agents Billy Ceisler and Lou Tucker.

Senior SG/SF Denham Brown will sign with Henry Thomas’ Chicago based CSMG.

According to the Hartford Courant, Junior PF/C Josh Boone will work out in Chicago with former UConn assistant and big man coach Clyde Vaughan. Vaughan recruited Boone heavily in prep school and was a big factor in bringing him to UConn. He was eventually forced to resign from his position as an assistant coach after being arrested for solicitation of a prostitute.

Novak Signs With Diener’s Agent

Sources also confirmed to DraftExpress that sharp-shooting Marquette Forward Steve Novak will sign with DC area based Doug Neustadt. Neustadt represents clients such as Boris Diaw, Sarunas Jasikevicius, and Novak’s teammate at Marquette last year, Travis Diener. He’s expected to train in the Washington DC area.

Ronnie Brewer Wavering?

Although many, including us, have already penciled in Ronnie Brewer for the 2006 Draft, that might be a bit premature. More than one source, including Brewer himself, told DraftExpress that a final decision has not been made. Brewer is in a situation that is somewhat similar to Joakim Noah in the fact that he is in no financial pressure to begin his professional career. He also reportedly is enjoying his college experience immensely in terms of being the Big Man on Campus. Brewer, unlike Noah, still has something left to prove, as his 1st round exit from the NCAA tournament may have left a sour taste in his mouth. Brewer will have an extremely talented frontcourt to work with should he decide to return next year in 7 foot shot-blocking specialist Steven Hill and big-bodied 6-10 athletic presence Darian Townes, both NBA draft prospects down the road themselves. It’s very difficult to pass up being a lottery or top-20 pick, though, so expect this one to come down to the wire.

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