George Washington University Athletics
It's a Slam Dunk: Pops Mensah-Bonsu Withdraws From NBA Draft, Will Return to GW for His Senior Year
6/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 21, 2005
Pops' Opening Statement: "Today, I have decided to take my name out of the NBA Draft and return for my senior season at George Washington. I think my decision was based on the fact that I want to get my degree and I also want to return to GW and help the team be better in hopes of going back to the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully, we can win the A-10 Championship again and I also want to graduate with the class I came in here with. When I had to make that decision, I felt it wasn't that hard for me to do so, because I am close with a lot of my teammates and the NBA is going to be there next year. I feel real positive about coming back to GW for one more year."
Media: A lot of players wrestle with the decision to stay in the draft right up until the deadline. When did you know your decision?
Pops: "I had a pretty good camp and a lot of good workouts with the teams. I received a lot of positive feedback. But, because of the amount of underclassmen that declared for the draft this year, the odds of me being a first round pick were just not that great. With the age-limit requirement in the NBA in place next year and one more year under my belt to develop my game, I feel that I will be a lot more NBA-ready after this coming season. The decision was not hard because I am not a kid just out for the money. I basically went to camp to see how I fared against some of the best players in the country and in the world. I went there knowing that if played well, then I'd feel pretty good about myself afterwards and go from there. If anything happened after that, then it would be a plus."
Media: What teams did you work out for?
Pops: "I worked out for the Wizards, Knicks, Suns, Sonics, Pistons, Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors."
Media: By working out for those teams, what did you learn about NBA expectations and about yourself?
Pops: "I knew that I was already athletic, but still a bit raw. They knew I had the potential to be a more polished and skilled player and I showed glimpses of my ability to play in the post and hopefully one day, I can become a small forward in the NBA. After my workouts, they were obviously impressed with my athleticism, but maybe a little more impressed with how skilled I actually was overall. With the individual workouts, the teams saw that I was a little more talented and skilled than their initial perceptions."
Media: What role did your brother's agent play in your whole decision making process?
Pops: "He was my advisor. Everybody needs an advisor going into this situation to tell you what the teams are talking about and how they feel about you. My brother is my mentor. I tell him everything. He helped me with my college decision, my high school decision and especially with this decision. He's been through acquiring an agent and the whole pro process, so I think I benefited from his experiences. Some other players don't have a brother who plays professional basketball to show them what goes into the whole process. With him being there to guide me with my decision, it just helped me out throughout the whole process."
Media: How did the success of the program over the last couple of seasons play into your decision?
Pops: "It wasn't that hard of a decision for me to come back to school, because we went to the NCAA Tournament last year and won the A-10 Championship. I feel we are going to be just as good, if not better, than last year's team with the new players we have and the players we have returning. We can build on what we accomplished last season and actually make some real noise in the NCAA Tournament this coming season."
Media: What aspects of your game do you plan on improving during your senior campaign at GW?
Pops: "Becoming a more skilled and polished player. Everybody knows I can dunk and I am athletic. I felt that almost every basket I was able to get was a dunk. I have to show that I have a jump hook and a jump shot. I also want to show that I can play a little bit more defense. One of my major things I am going to work on is being a more disciplined defensive player, because I think I can help my team out a lot more if I would concentrate more on my defensive effort. Everybody knows I can score, but I feel if I work on my defense the scoring will come as a result and I'll be able to help my team a lot more."
Media: When did you actually make your decision to stay at GW?
Pops: "I'm not too sure. After the camp, I played well and any time someone plays well in a situation like that, you would think they would probably stay in the draft based on the feedback they received. Even though I played well, I heard from many reliable sources that if I returned to school I would have a good chance to be a first-round selection (next year). When you hear something like that from somebody you trust and believe, I felt to myself that I could wait. The NBA is always going to be there. You can only play college basketball once. I felt if I gave my eligibility up, that would be it. Like I said, there are a lot of positives for me returning to school such as graduating with the class I came in here with: Mike (Hall), Omar (Williams), Alex (Kireev) and Dokun (Akingbade).
"I came in with them when we were struggling and to go through the tough times and good times with those players, I think it wouldn't be too satisfactory if I broke up the group. We have one more year and to have a senior game with those guys would be the best feeling, and that helped in my decision. Every time I thought about coming back and going through practices with the team and how close I am with all my teammates, I knew it was the right decision to return. All my teammates are my best friends. I have 13 or 14 brothers on this team, that is how I see it. When I think about coming back and playing with them, it brings a smile to my face. I know I am going to graduate with those other four players and hopefully we are going to do some good things as far as basketball is concerned. When you think about how we went from being a mediocre team in the A-10 to finishing on top last year, look at the expectations for next year. Who knows what we can do? That definitely helped in my decision."
Media: When you first declared and saw so many entries, what did you think?
Pops: "At first, I thought it was taking away from something I was doing. Declaring for the draft is not something you just do. It's not something like, `I'm just going to declare for the draft because everybody else is doing it.' I was doing it because I think it is a privilege and it shows the status you have, and shows the hard work you have put in when you can say I'm going to declare for the NBA draft. To be able to declare for the NBA draft shows you have been working hard and people recognize that you can actually play and they want to see you at the next level. Going to the camp shows that you are one of the elite in the country. So when I did that and saw 108 underclassmen had declared, at first I felt that it took away from what I was doing, like everybody else just saw me as another underclassmen declaring for the draft trying to attain that NBA dream. When I saw there were 108 underclassmen, I thought the odds are not looking too great, and that was not including seniors, for 60 spots in the draft. For my personal goals, I actually wanted to be a first round pick. I could've left and hopefully been a second-round pick, but what if I would have been cut? I don't have my degree. I would have given up my last year of college eligibility and I didn't want to be in that position. I didn't want to take that chance. Even though I played well at camp, I didn't want to take that chance of being cut from an NBA team and not being able to come back and share the moments that my teammates are going to have. I'm chasing a dream and I feel with the team's success comes my success also. I feel if we win again and if we do what we did last year and build upon it, good things will happen for everybody on this team. And that includes the coaches down to every player on this team."
