Questions send Roberts back to Bulldogs

[Sancho Panza]

June 18, 2004
Questions send Roberts back to Bulldogs

Lawrence Roberts


Mississippi State junior withdraws from NBA draft, opting to finish college career

By Michael Wallace
mwallace@clarionledger.com

OXFORD — For Lawrence Roberts, the decision to either return to college for his senior season or keep his name in the hat for the NBA draft came down to a simple case of Q and A.

The pro scouts seemed to have had too many questions while Roberts apparently didn't provide enough answers to erase doubt as to whether he was a certain first-round pick.

"Too many unanswered questions," Roberts said during an appearance late Thursday afternoon on ESPNews. "Anytime you have a situation like that, the best remedy is to answer the questions people have in their heads. That's going back to school ... and proving I'm a higher pick than people might think."
As a result, the 6-foot-9 All-American forward will return to Mississippi State to help the Bulldogs defend their SEC regular-season championship.

Roberts apparently wavered right down to the wire while making what he said was one of the most important decision of his life.

The deadline for underclassmen to remove their name from consideration for the NBA draft was 4 p.m. central time on Thursday.

Roberts broke the news during a nationally broadcast interview just before the deadline. Repeated attempts to reach Roberts on his cell phone were unsuccessful.

MSU coach Rick Stansbury was travelling back from Roberts' home in Houston on Thursday and was unavailable for comment, Bulldogs basketball spokesman David Rosinski said Thursday night.

Roberts entered his name into draft in April and had hoped to be projected as one of the top 20 players chosen when the two-round draft takes place next Thursday.

The first 29 players taken in the draft receive guaranteed contracts while second-round picks do not.

At least two NBA mock drafts listed Roberts as a second-round pick this week despite the player's solid performance at last week's pre-draft camp at Chicago.

Analysts have said that another year of development would do Roberts plenty of good. If he makes any improvements from last season, Roberts could be a lottery pick following his senior season.

Roberts, who transferred to MSU from Baylor last August, decided to test the NBA waters after he averaged 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds en route to the SEC's Player of the Year honor.

His return gives MSU three starters back from a team that finished 26-4 last season. Roberts will likely make the Bulldogs among the league's favorites heading into the 2004-05 season.

"Either way this was a win-win situation and I'm blessed to be in this certain situation," Roberts told ESPN. "It came down to basically trying to weigh every option and knowing this is ultimately the biggest decision ... in my life."