Manning says Gooden can handle NBA riches

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 26, 2002 by Capital-Journal

The Associated Press

Kansas All-American Drew Gooden is in New York for tonight's NBA draft, which will be televised on TNT.

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Gooden: KU star may go No. 4

See GOODEN, page 2D

By Ric Anderson

The Capital-Journal

Danny Manning won't actually hear the telephone calls Drew Gooden will field over the next several weeks, but he certainly knows why Gooden's phone will be ringing.

"He's going to find out he has cousins he doesn't know anything about," Manning said. "It's a hard situation to go into. All the new money is there."

If tonight's NBA draft plays out as projected, Gooden will become a multimillionaire sometime around 7.

In a consensus among many draft analysts, Gooden will be taken fourth overall in the draft, which begins at 6:25 p.m. and will be telecast by TNT. If the analysts' predictions are correct, the All- America forward from Kansas will earn $7.5 million over three years under the NBA's salary structure.

Manning has been in Gooden's soon-to-be-designer shoes. A KU All- American in 1988, Manning was the top pick of the '88 draft.

Now hoping to continue his 14-year NBA career after being waived this week by the Dallas Mavericks, Manning said Gooden was in for a learning experience should he become KU's first first-round draft pick since Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce in 1998.

"You will take care of family members you want to take care of," Manning said. "You also have to learn to say no. Anybody in any type of professional sports, just because you sign one professional contract it's no guarantee that six more contracts will come. You have to prepare yourself like, 'This is the only contract I'm going to get. If I happen to get another one, OK, my financial plans might change a bit.' "

After averaging 19.8 points and 11.4 rebounds while leading KU to the Final Four last season, Gooden is being projected as the top pick of the Memphis Grizzlies. But that's not a lock, because Grizzlies general manager Jerry West is involved in various trade talks and could give up the No. 4 overall pick.

Still, analysts say Gooden is unlikely to slide lower than fourth. And with those kind of expectations in the air, he already has been receiving calls from prospective hangers-on.

"People are starting to come out of the woodwork," he said. "But it's not that much of a worry now. You just have to realize this is a whole other world. It's a business. You've got to make the right decisions, and I will do that."

KU coach Roy Williams said he had talked to Gooden about making good choices.

"We've had conversations (about) all his friends may not be the same old guys," Williams said. "There will be people coming out of the woodwork, people who were your friends at one time, (who) all of a sudden fell by the wayside and now are showing back up again."

But after watching Gooden mature from an undisciplined freshman who drew the nickname "Hurricane Drew" to a team leader and one of the Jayhawks' hardest workers, Williams said he wasn't concerned about his former player's future.

"I don't worry about Drew in any way, shape or form with the NBA, whether in terms of lifestyle, being successful, whether he can handle the money," Williams said. "The young man has such a good head on his shoulders and knows what is going on."

Ric Anderson can be reached at (913) 796-6352 or randerson@cjonline.com

Four tops

When it comes to the top four picks, anyway, NBA draft analysts seem to be unified. In fact, there were no differences among TNT broadcaster Danny Ainge, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, Andy Katz of espn.com and Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated in mock drafts posted Tuesday.

- Houston Rockets: Yao Ming, 7-foot-5 center, Shanghai Sharks.

- Chicago Bulls: Jay Williams, 6-2 point guard, Duke.

- Golden State Warriors: Mike Dunleavy, 6-9 forward, Duke.

- Memphis Grizzlies: Drew Gooden, 6-10 forward, Kansas.