Gator Country

It was not a surprise that Marreese Speights declared for the NBA Tuesday and it shouldn’t be a surprise whether he stays in the draft or comes back to Florida. Unlike a lot of kids that declare for early entry to the NBA Speights is surrounded by good people who have no personal agenda. The only thing they want to ensure is that whatever decision is made it’s made with the best possible information.

First on the agenda will be to get with Billy Donovan, who will call his friends and contacts in the NBA to get some preliminary evaluations. The evals will tell Marreese what his strengths and weaknesses are and what he will have to prove in Orlando at the pre-draft workouts at the Disney sports complex in late May.

If Speights does well enough at Disney, he will likely be invited to work out for several teams and he will have until June 18 to decide whether to withdraw from the draft of move forward. Once he makes a decision, there is no turning back.

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About the author

Franz Beard

Franz has been writing sports for 42 years in various outposts like Gainesville, Jacksonville, Savannah, Richmond and Miami. He's been writing for Gator Country since 1999 and has served as the site's managing editor since 2004. He is also a contributing writer to Gator Country Magazine.

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