Budinger's dad doing pre-draft legwork
By hiring high-profile agent Jeff Schwartz this week, former Arizona Wildcats guard Jerryd Bayless has help wandering the NBA draft maze ahead this spring.
By opting to keep the door open for a return to the Wildcats, and thus not hiring an agent, Chase Budinger has … his dad doing all the work.
But Duncan Budinger said Thursday he is fine contacting NBA general managers to seek advice and arranging for his son to prepare for the NBA's pre-draft process that will begin in full swing late next month.
"I would admit it would be much easier if I hired an agent, but that's not what we're planning on doing," Duncan Budinger said. "I'm planning on doing all the arrangements. But I'm a businessman, so I can handle it, and it's not like I'm breaking any new ground here."
Budinger, who said recent speculation that he is close to hiring an agent is "all conjecture," noted that the process has actually become easier since his son declared for the NBA draft last week.
"Once you put your name in, it opens things up for a parent," Duncan Budinger said. "I'm officially allowed to have conversations with (NBA) people. … Most of them are very nice people, too."
Chase Budinger is projected as a mid-first-round pick, according to two of the more respected mock drafts, Draft Express and ESPN.com. Such a pick would mean Budinger would receive a two-year guaranteed contract of at least $1.2 million annually, but Duncan Budinger said there was no definite projection his son must get confirmed to stay in the draft.
"We haven't reached that bridge yet," Duncan Budinger said. "I personally feel that when Chase gets to individual workouts and things, that he may even move up in the draft. But we haven't made that decision yet. He may get input that says he'll be ninth or eighth, but for other reasons, he may not decide to come out.
"If he gets good feedback and decides to stay in the draft, that's a good decision. If he hears back and decides to stay in school, that's a good decision. The best thing we're doing is that we've put the name in the draft so now he is able to get the input from coaches and league" officials.
Bayless, meanwhile, declared irrevocably for the draft on April 5, knowing he is projected as a near-lock for a top-10 pick. His mother, Denise Bowman, said Thursday he signed with the Los Angeles-based Schwartz and will be preparing for the draft by working out in several different places.
Meanwhile, she said, Bayless is still in Tucson attempting to finish up his spring courses and making arrangements to finish some of them remotely. While he will be leaving the UA after only one year, Jerryd Bayless still plans to graduate in the future, his mother said.
"He would be the only one in our family who didn't" if he failed to, Bowman said. "He will get his degree sometime. But the reality is, he has an opportunity to do something" in the NBA.
Budinger is staying in Tucson through the end of the spring semester to finish his classes, his father said. Next month, Bayless and Budinger are scheduled to begin the formal draft process by going through measurements and tests in Orlando, though they will likely not play in the Orlando pre-draft camp games along with senior Jawann McClellan.
Rim shots
● Departing forward Mohamed Tangara is scheduled to take recruiting visits to Sonoma (Calif.) State and Grand Canyon. He has one year of eligibility remaining but must play below Division I since he has already used his redshirt season.
● Motlow State (Tenn.) Community College guard Tyree Evans has signed with Maryland. Arizona had been working to arrange a recruiting visit, according to Evans' coach, Bobby Steinburg.
● Washington State added its first Spokane player in 18 years this week when forward DeAngelo Casto, The Associated Press' Washington player of the year, signed a letter of intent to play for the Cougars.
● Oregon announced seldom-used forward Drew Viney will be released from his scholarship.
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