University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn's Ben Gordon Enters NBA Draft
4/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STORRS, CT (April 14) – Connecticut men’s basketball player Ben Gordon announced on Wednesday afternoon that he has made himself eligible for the 2004 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft. Surrounded by friends, family and teammates, Gordon made the announcement at Gampel Pavilion on the Storrs campus. The draft will be held on Thursday, June 24 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Press Conference Quotes
Jr. Guard Ben Gordon
Opening Statement
First of all I just want to thank everybody for coming out today and showing their support for my decision making. I also want to thank my family that’s sitting up in the front: my mom Yvonne, my sister Ingrid, my aunt Judith, my grandmother, and I want to thank my teammates for making it such a great experience. Everyday we had a lot of fun at practice. It was almost like an episode of Dave Chappelle in practice in how much fun we had. I just want to thank all those guys. I want to thank Mr. Hathaway, the athletic director for making this a good year for us. I want to thank all the coaches: Coach Moore, Coach Blaney, Coach Vaughan, and Coach Calhoun. It’s a really tough decision but I want to announce that I’m making myself available for the 2004 NBA draft.
On when the decision was made to enter the NBA draft
Coming into the season, I knew that I wanted this to be my last year. I wanted to win a championship and I had those goals set. Throughout the course of the season a lot of different things happened where I had to question if I could leave or not. Just the run that my team and I went on, it was a pretty easy decision for me.
On what he’ll remember most
Just playing in Gampel, I mean that’s the best experience. We have the best students in the country, and just playing in front of the crowd in Gampel Pavilion, that’s the best feeling being a college basketball player.
On why going to college at UConn has made him a better person
The three years I’ve spent here has helped me a lot. Coming from Mount Vernon to Storrs was a really big culture shock. At first it was hard for me to deal with, and meeting new kinds of people, and the every day life up here. After I adjusted to that it made me a more well-rounded person because I adjusted to the city life and then I came up here and got familiar with lots of people I wasn’t used to back home. Just the relationships I’ve built in three years and the people I’ve met have really made me a better person.
On what team he’d like to play for in the NBA
I wanted to play for the Knick's just because it’s at home and everything like that. But I really just want to go to a team where I’ll make an instant impact.
On what kind of adjustments he’ll have to make over the next few months
I think everything is going to be mental for me pretty much. Just having a killer instinct all the time, it’s all mental to me, and it’s something that’s easy to work on but you just have to stay on top of it.
On the first time he spoke with Coach Calhoun
He (Coach Calhoun) happened to be the very first coach who called me, and it’s kind of a coincidence I guess, but I remember talking to him and I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. He’s got that Bostonian accent and I was like “Yeah, yeah, sure, ok,” but I think that’s how he got me, because I didn’t understand him so I had to come up here and visit and see what he was talking about.
On how much thought was given to the NBA during the season
I think that throughout the season I was thinking about the NBA a little bit too much. I think it kind of hurt me in a way. Coming in to the year I knew that it was something I wanted to do at the end of the season, and throughout the year I had just been thinking about it too much and putting extra pressure on myself. I think that it really hurt me during the season. But as far as coming back to college, I didn’t really start to think about that until I started to play poorly, but I just used that as a motivational device to continue to try and work through it and play well to get my teams wins.
Right up until the Big East Tournament and when Emeka got injured I thought, ‘I really have to take all this pressure off of myself and just go out there and have fun’ and that’s what I started doing and I haven’t looked back since then.
On who he has gotten help from in making decisions
My mom right there. During the season a lot of times when I was struggling I would just talk to her every day. Even though she doesn’t know about basketball and exactly what to tell me, I would just call her every day and we would pray about stuff and she was my rock. I’ve leaned on her in the toughest times and it helped out a lot.
Head Coach Jim Calhoun
Opening Statement
Today is in many ways a very sad day but also a very happy day. The loss of Ben is going to be a very personal one for me, because when his mom trusted us with him three years ago to pursue his education and his athletics here at UConn, I discovered a really special young guy who all he really wanted was to be the best he could be, and to help lead us, the University, our basketball program to special places. Obviously a little over a week ago we got to a very special place. Ben, without question, is one of the finest basketball players to have ever darned a uniform at UConn. He’s one of the most special kids that I’ve had the pleasure to coach, and it will be sad because we’ll miss him. But I’m happy by the fact that, basketball wise, when we’ve talked and we have talked at length about this, he’s graduated from our basketball program. He’s physically ready, he’s mentally ready, and he’s going to be one heck of an asset to the team that is fortunate enough to draft him. Not only will it enhance their basketball, but it’ll enhance the quality of the kind of people that the team will have. The entire community will benefit greatly by having Ben there, just as we have been lucky over the past three years to have him.
Our university has been blessed to have Ben for three years. He is everything you’d want a student athlete to be, he’s been everything you’d want a person to be, he’s been everything a teammate that you’d want him to be, and he’s really just one special young guy. I think that this opportunity right now, given the world we live in, he’d be quite frankly foolish not to take advantage of this incredible opportunity.
Gordon's Bio
At Connecticut: Standout guard who appeared in all 106 games in his three seasons, starting 74... Scored 1,795 career points (16.9/game) and added 437 assists (4.1/game) and 415 rebounds (3.9/game)... His 1,795 career points rank him sixth all-time at UConn... Reached double figures 88 times in his career, cracked the 20-point mark 39 times and scored 30 points or more five times... Holds the UConn career record with 246 three-pointers, breaking the old mark of 242 set by Chris Smith... His three-point field goal percentage of 42.3% is No. 2 all-time at UConn, behind only Ray Allen (44.8%).
As a Junior in 2003-04: Starter at the shooting guard spot... Named to the 2003-04 All-BIG EAST First Team... Named NABC & USBWA First Team All-District I... Averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game... Shot 43.4% from the field and 43.3% from three-point range... Made 104 three-pointers on the season, No. 2 in UConn history behind Ray Allen (115)... Finished No. 50 in the nation in scoring and No. 18 in the country in three-point field goal percentage... Averaged 21.2 points in the NCAA Tournament and led the 2004 Tournament field with 127 points... Named to the Final Four All-Tournament team after scoring 21 points in the title game win over Georgia Tech and 18 points in the National Semifinal victory over Duke... Named the Most Outstanding Player of the Phoenix Regional after scoring 36 points in the Elite Eight win over Alabama, tying the UConn record for points in an NCAA Tournament game... Had a game-high 20 points in the Sweet 16 win over Vanderbilt... Had a game-high 18 points in the NCAA Second Round win over DePaul... Named the Most Outstanding Performer of the BIG EAST Tournament, setting a tourney scoring record with 81 points (27.0/game), including the game-winning basket in the championship game win over Pittsburgh... Had 29 points in the quarterfinal and semifinal contests of the tourney... Had 23 points, six boards, five assists and four steals in the win over Seton Hall... Had 21 points, including five three’s, in the win at Villanova... Scored 23 points at Pittsburgh, 22 points at Notre Dame and 24 points and seven assists in win over West Virginia in a three-game stretch... Recorded a near triple-double with 13 points, ten rebounds and eight assists in the win over Syracuse... Had a 22-point night at Virginia Tech, including four-of-six shooting from three... Suffered a broken nose in the win over Georgetown on January 14 and had surgery on January 21. He wore a protective mask for six games (Providence through game at Notre Dame)... Scored 34 points, including seven-of-eight shooting from three, in the win over UMass... Had 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in the win over Ball State... Registered his first career triple-double with 17 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in the win over Iona... Named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on December 22 for his effort vs. Iona... Had 28 points (23 in the first half), including a career-best eight three-pointers, in the win over Quinnipiac...Had a career-high five steals vs. Lehigh... Had 27 points in only 26 minutes of play vs. Sacred Heart, scoring 21 in the first half... Scored a career-best 37 points in the win over Nevada on November 19... Had 13 points and six assists in the opener vs. Yale... Named the ESPN.com and Dick Vitale National Player of the Week and the BIG EAST Player of the Week on November 24... First Team Preseason All-BIG EAST selection... Earned Preseason All-American honors from The Sporting News, Blue Ribbon, Basketball News, Athlon Sports, Street & Smith’s, Dick Vitale and ESPN.com... Was seventh in the voting for the Preseason Associated Press All-American team.
In the Summer of 2003: Represented the USA this summer as a member of the Pan American Games squad... Played in all five games, averaging 14.4 minutes, 5.6 points and 1.2 rebounds... Had a team-high 12 points in the bronze medal game.
As a Sophomore in 2002-03: Named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team... Named to the Basketball Times All-Northeast Region squad... Named to the NABC & USBWA All-District I First Teams... Started all 33 games, playing both the point guard and shooting guard positions... Led the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game and in total assists with 156 (4.7/game)... Third on the team in rebounding at 4.2 per game... Reached double figures in all but one game (at Vanderbilt) and scored 20 or more points 17 times... Had 29 points in the NCAA Second Round win over Stanford, making four-of-five three’s and nine-of-nine from the free throw line... Named to the 2003 ConAgra Foods BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team after scoring 50 points in three games (16.7 per game)... Scored 25 points in the quarterfinal win over Seton Hall... Had a then career-high 32 points at Miami on January 20... Had 31 points and ten assists vs. Sacred Heart, his first career double-double... Had 25 points and eight assists in the win at Notre Dame... Scored 11 points, handed out nine assists and had only one turnover in the season finale at Boston College... Named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on December 30... Finished the season No. 7 in the BIG EAST and No. 50 nationally in scoring... Also finished No. 5 in the BIG EAST in assists and No. 1 in three-point field goal percentage.
As a Freshman in 2001-2002: Named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team and was a member of the 2002 ConAgra Foods BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team... Appeared in all 34 games, starting two (Quinnipiac and Villanova on February 11)... Finished No. 2 on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game... Also averaged 2.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game... Led the team with 62 three-pointers and his 41.3% mark from three-point range is No. 8 on the UConn single season list... Reached double figures 22 times... Had 12 points and five assists in NCAA Sweet Sixteen win over Southern Illinois... Tied a career-high with three steals versus Hampton in the first round of the NCAA tournament... Averaged 17.6 points and 3.6 assists per game during the BIG EAST Tournament... Two-time BIG EAST Rookie of the Week... Scored a season-best 23 points four times... Recorded 23 against Villanova in the BIG EAST quarterfinals, including the game-winning three-pointer with 11.8 seconds remaining that gave the Huskies a 72-70 win...Had 23 points in the win at Arizona, including five-of-eight three-pointers, and also added nine assists with only one turnover... Earned Dick Vitale’s Diaper Dandy of the Week status, along with teammate Emeka Okafor, after the win over Arizona... Had 23 points in the overtime loss at St. John’s on February 9, including a stretch in the first half where he scored ten straight Husky points... Had a 21-point effort in the win at Georgetown, including the game-winning three-pointer in the final minute... Was BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on March 3 after scoring 15 points in a pair of wins over BC and Seton Hall to end the regular season... Was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on December 3 after scoring 23 points vs. New Hampshire and adding 19 against George Washington... Received the annual Most Improved Player Award at the team banquet.
Personal Information: Benjamin Gordon… Born April 4, 1983 in London, England… Pre-business administration major… Family moved to United States shortly after his birth.
