| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- Eddie Griffin has the backpack on his shoulders. Double straps. He's got a sweatshirt hanging loosely on him. He's wearing jeans and his sneaks to get him back to the dorm.
The hair on his head is closely cropped, and the facial hair is still thin enough to question whether or not it could grow other than above his lip and below his chin.
Oh, and, on Seton Hall's practice court, he's not physically strong enough yet to avoid getting his shot blocked or, at least altered, by 6-11 sophomore center Samuel Dalembert.
|  | | Eddie Griffin chose Seton Hall over the NBA, admitting he could use at least a year of college ball before getting paid to play. |
Yeah, Eddie Griffin is a college freshman in every sense. He's not polished. He's not a pro ... not an NBA player.
But he was close, nearly taking the gamble that would have likely made him a first-round pick, and a millionaire. But he still wouldn't have been ready for a career as a pro player.
"I'm glad I'm here," the 6-foot-9 McDonald's All-American said Friday during ESPN.com's preseason tour. "I know playing against Sam, he's probably going to be an NBA player, and he's not that physically stronger than me. But he's so long and tough for me to get my shot off. Imagine if I went to the next level?"
It wouldn't have been pretty.
Griffin likely would have suffered through the same troubling transition that befell Jermaine O'Neal and Jonathan Bender over the course of their first seasons in the NBA.
"I would have had the money, but I want to play," Griffin said. "I would have been miserable on the bench. I'm enjoying this so far."
Griffin, like every other top-five prep player over the past three years, was thought to be considering a jump to the NBA out of high school. It has become a right of passage for the top five players each spring.
Griffin, Alabama's Gerald Wallace and Michigan State's Zach Randolph made the decision to try college first, the NBA later. St. John's signee Darius Miles and Kansas signee DeShawn Stevenson declared for the draft without knowing if they would be cleared to play academically in college.
"It's part of the equation now if you're coming out of high school," Amaker said.
The same questions are being directed at this year's top high school seniors like Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, DaJuan Wagner and Kwame Brown.
"Everyone expects you to enter the draft if you're top five," Griffin said. "All the NBA scouts are looking for the next Kevin Garnett. There's a lot of pressure on all of us. I went through it."
Griffin said the idea of becoming a pro was in his head, even though Amaker said it was more an issue for everyone but Griffin.
"He's a throwback," Amaker said. "He made a statement last year that he doesn't believe you can skip steps. He knows he needs work. He believed in the program and he believed in us, and he wanted to do something unique like come with his friends (Andre Barrett and Marcus Toney-El).
|
“ |
Everyone expects you to enter the
draft if you're top five. All the NBA scouts are
looking for the next Kevin Garnett. There's a lot of
pressure on all of us. I went through it. ... I would
have had the money, but I want to play. I would
have been miserable on the bench. I'm enjoying
this so far. ” |
|
|
— Eddie Griffin, Seton Hall freshman forward |
"We think he'll be here. We'll know when the time is right. We just told him, 'Let's go to college, and if it's right to leave after one year, then go.' He's mature enough to understand that."
And humble, too.
Griffin has been grounded from the moment he stepped on campus. His teammates don't see a potential pro on the court. They see a freshman trying to earn playing time. Griffin is razzed like everyone else, praised when he does well and is spent when Amaker gets the team running fullcourt.
"Deep down inside, Eddie knew he wasn't ready for the league," said Seton Hall freshman Marcus Toney-El. "Ed knew that he had to take care of the little things more. Coming to Seton Hall is a good situation for him. It will only help him."
During the first few weeks of school, Griffin sought out junior guard Darius Lane, asking him questions about the Big East. His interest and respect was enough to earn him instant credibility with the upperclassmen.
"He's a regular guy," Lane said. "He wants to get better and wants to work. He's got to get stronger, and once he does, he can be a great player. There's no ego with him. He is humble."
Griffin's transition is simpler by having Dalembert next to him in the post, aggressive forwards Al Harris, Greg Morton and Charles Manga to bang him in the halfcourt, and fellow freshman point Andre Barrett to get him the ball in his sweet spot on the break.
"He knows what it takes to get to the NBA, but he felt he wasn't ready," said Barrett, who played with Griffin during summer league tournaments in high school. "He learned how to put the ball on the floor more. He wants to be more of a three (small forward).
"In the NBA, they're paying you and expect you to do something. If you can't do it, you're out of a job. Now he's got a chance to make mistakes, play for free and work on his game."
The emphasis to look inside more often this season shifted the Pirates' focus from Lane and Ty Shine to Griffin and Dalembert. Like Dalembert, Griffin can block shots. But unlike him, he's got an outside shot, which makes the Pirates tougher to defend.
"This is tougher than I thought it was going to be," Griffin said. "The guys are a lot stronger and it's tough, like I said, to shoot over Sam. I know that I need to get stronger here and if I had gone to the NBA, they would have been way stronger than me. I'm glad I'm here."
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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