During American Athletic Conference media day Wednesday UConn point guard Ryan Boatright spoke about the prospects of losing coach Kevin Ollie to the NBA, which was a hot topic in the offseason, shortly after the Huskies won the national title.
“Me just knowing as a person, it’s hard to turn down $12 million for a year,” Boatright said of his coach, via SNY.com. “I didn’t have to ask him about it, I knew he was thinking about it. It’s $12 million.”
Boatright added that “Honestly, if he would’ve left, I probably would’ve turned pro.” Luckily, Ollie never seriously entertained leaving Storrs and, according to Boatright, the coach told him, "I’m not even thinking about it. You know I’m UConn made.”
“Once he told me that,” Boatright said, “I knew I was coming back to school.”
Ollie's recollection of events are slightly different.
“I don’t remember it went down that way,” the coach said Wednesday. “I just remember I wasn’t talking about no Laker job, or Cleveland job or anything like that. I was recruiting," he told SNY.com.
“I remember bringing him into the office and going over all the information that I got from every general manager and the NBA does a great job [giving] back definitive information on where you’re going to get drafted at. And I gave him that information, he talked to his family…and he decided to come back. I was very pleased that he came back, I think he’s going to have a wonderful year.
“And I think he’s going to improve his draft stock. I think he’s going to improve as a basketball player, but most importantly he’s going to improve as a man.”
