Grant Jerrett stands by decision to leave UA
Jun 3, 2013, 10:25 PM | Updated: 10:28 pm
Grant Jerrett turned heads with his decision to leave Arizona after just one season.
He turned more heads at last month’s NBA Draft Combine, shooting well during his stay in Chicago.
His performance landed him workouts with the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers before arriving in Phoenix to workout with the Suns Monday.
“This is ASU territory so I didn’t really care for it,” Jerrett said with a smile.
The 6-10, 232-pound power forward is a projected late second-round pick, though he appears to be moving up many draft boards with each passing workout.
“It’s tough, but it’s a good (process) to go through to get to your dream and goal, competing against good players, so it’s fun,” said Jerrett before heading to the airport and a workout with the Indiana Pacers Tuesday.
The first commitment in Sean Miller’s recruiting class of 2012, Jerrett averaged 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 17.8 minutes his freshman season, which again was his only season at Arizona.
“I don’t regret coming out,” he said. “I’m happy I did it.”
Whether his decision to forgo his final three years of college eligibility was a good one won’t be known for another three weeks.
The NBA Draft is June 27.
“I don’t think so,” Jerrett said when asked if his shooting at the combine opened some team’s eyes. “I think they already knew that I could shoot. Coming into these (workouts) is trying to do other things that they haven’t seen me do before. Obviously, I need to shoot but there’s also, I got to mix in other things; show them more of my game: posting up, passing, dribbling, stuff like that.”
