It’s official: English
is outta hereThe guard hires an agent, meaning
he will be leaving the Rainbows
for the pros a year early
Carl English can officially add the prefix "former" to his status as a University of Hawaii basketball player.
English closed the door on returning to the Rainbow Warriors by signing with Toronto-based sports agent Harold Sipin yesterday.
English, a 6-foot-5 guard, declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft in June despite having a year of college eligibility remaining and cemented his commitment by signing with an agent following last week's NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago.
English had the option of returning to UH for his senior season as long as he hadn't signed with an agent.
"I've said all along I wanted to enter the draft and go to Chicago and see for myself," English said.
English, a native of Patrick's Cove, Newfoundland, returned to Toronto yesterday and leaves for Indianapolis today for a workout for the Indiana Pacers staff. He will also try to improve his stock in a workout tour that includes sessions with Minnesota, Memphis, Atlanta and the Los Angeles Lakers in the weeks leading up to the draft set for June 26 in New York.
"I have to show up and do well because this will be crucial," English said of the individual workouts. "I just have to be focused and prove myself."
UH coach Riley Wallace spoke with English yesterday and said the financial burden of flying across the country to participate in the workouts played a part in the decision to sign with an agent.
"He said, 'I want to give it the best shot I've got, I've got to go to the workouts and I've got to get an agent to get me the workouts,' " Wallace said.
Wallace said the NBA scouts he's talked to project English as a late second-round pick and believes he could use another year of college ball. But he also said he supports English in his pursuit of an NBA roster spot.
"I said, 'I want to go on record for telling you I think you're making a mistake, but I want you to prove me wrong,' " Wallace said. "He said, 'I've proven people wrong all my life.'
"I called him a stubborn Irishman just like I am, but he believes in himself and that's what's good. ... He's a very confident kid."
English is the first UH underclassman to enter the NBA Draft and hopes to become the first Rainbow selected since Reggie Cross was picked by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 1989 draft.
English's shooting ability got him noticed, but his professional aspirations may hinge on whether he can convince NBA teams that he can handle point-guard duties at the next level.
"He's a natural (shooting) guard and it'll take some hard work to move over," Wallace said. "But if he ever makes it and gets a few minutes, who knows what he can do."
English led the Rainbows with 19.3 points and was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference pick as a junior. He leaves the program with 1,259 career points and the school record for 3-point goals in a season with 89.
Although English had the option of returning to school until yesterday, Wallace said the UH coaches had planned on not having him back for his senior season.
"We recruited as though he were not coming back," Wallace said. "We'll be a very good basketball team. With him we would have been a great one."
Among the returnees who will be looked upon to ease English's absence is senior forward Phil Martin, a fellow Canadian who joined the UH program along with English in 1999.
"It'll be different," Martin said. "He's a real close friend of mine and he brought a lot of things to the table, whether it be on the court or off the court. It'll definitely be a presence that'll be missed.
"It's just a point in somebody's life where you have to do what you have to do and what's in your heart. That's the type of mentality he has and nobody is going to stop him or get in his way. ... Like his tattoo says, the sky's the limit."
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