Let's get something clear, Caracter is not some thug from the hood, the kid is from an affluent subarban neighborhood in northern central jersey, again, you say it's not racism, but simply put him being black and automatically he plays basketball and he must be from the hood. While he may or may not make it as a basketball player he doesn't come from a poor family and I doubt he'd have to sell drugs do to make ends meet.<br />The point in 1 year of playing basketball he would certainly make more than most make in their lives to retire on, as for should he go or not, if he will get drafted it's his prerogative. Personally, I think it's stupid to tell someone they should stay in school, fi they have financial windfall at hand, unless staying in school will make them more money. Would you ahve told Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Michael Dell to stay in school, what are you guys stupid?

This definitely hurts the cards. With Samuels coming in and Clark and backcourt coming back though, they should be ok.

THERE ARE JUST SOME PLAYERS WHO BENEFIT MORE BY STAYING IN COLLEGE, HE IS THE PERFECT CASE.

phade2blaq<br />phadet2aaq<br />I agree there is no difference in Jesse Helms, David Duke, Al Sharpton, and Rev. Wright. Unfortunatly for you is you fail to see the similiarities between yourself and Rameses The Great. Shame on the both of you. <br />GO STATE GO !!!!!!!!!

First let me say that I don't think that DC should go pro now(if ever). He doesn't start, doesn't average double figures in points or rebounds for UofL. He shows spurts of brilliance but I haven't seen him dominate a game this year like you would think a for sure pro would.<br /><br />Just throwing this out there because none of you have mentioned it yet. Maybe he's going pro because he doesn't have any other choice. Samardo Samuels is coming next year and from what I've seen he is Derrick Caracter with more ball skills. Perhaps Rick has reached his breaking point with Caracter this year and isn't offering him a scholorship next year? Just a thought

But please put the evil empire, from the armpit city of the state of TN, out of the tourney first! :-)

Hey guys, we've wasted too much time and energy on this dud who'll never be heard from again...

Getting to Sweet 16, or Final Four, or even winning it, will be all that a majority of the players will have. That experience. That memory. In most peoples' minds it can't equate to a multimillion dollar contract and an easy life (assuming they use their brain). But at lest its something they can cherish as they go on to their mundane walk of life, working their 9-to-5 job for forty years and hoping to have a few dollars to retire on.

And another thing that has nothing to do with black or white, but just his lack of "Character" is him announcing it now, while his team is in the Sweet Sixteen and has a shot of getting to the Finals.<br /><br />Why would he do this now and create a distraction? He could have waited until two weeks from now. But No! As has been chronicled time and again, he has never cared about anybody but himself.<br /><br />Even if all the college players' perception of being used by "the Man", (aka NCAA/NBA), at least as teammates they should band together for that brief time in the present, when they can make a name for themselves as a team wherever they happen to be playing, knowing full well a majority of them, (mostly white), will never even sit on the bench for a couple years, make a couple million that most peole will not make in a lifetime and go on to some other job in life, (which they could even live off the interest if they weren't stupid and blew all their earnings right away!<br /><br />Even if he somehow makes it on a team and does on etour of duty in the NBA, CBA or overseas, he would have earned more than 99% of all the other kids on most teams. The percentage is lower on the marquee teams with all the PR and blue chippers.<br /><br />BUT the whole time he was at Louisville, he did his teammates a disservice. And he'll probably never lose a minute of sleep over that fact, no matter how his life turns out.

Pro?<br /><br />Is he crazy?<br /><br />He's headed to Eurpoe, he can't rebound, gets stuffed by College kids who know they have no pro career.<br /><br />He's toast. If you're supposed to be a superstar coming out of high school, and can't even earn a starting job, on a top 25 college bb program, after 2 years, what makes him think he has the game for the pros?<br /><br />omg, he is tossing whatever good life he could have had, out the window...2 yrs tops, no more money, no more job, no education...pitino should have one of his "talks", unless he's leaving because he quit going to classes, and couldn't qualify.

one more thought: Caracter, who has a reputation of being lazy both on and off the court, is averaging 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds this season.<br /><br />Look for the newscast stating he is going to prison.

Ok being from louisville! I see this all the time. Another stupid "" thinking of buying his mother a house and being on cribs before thinking of that he should wait. This is why this world is so messed up. Displaying wealth and giving these black kids pipe dreams of being in Multi million dollar homes. What will happen he will not be drafted and end up on the 6 oclock news shooting his cousin or make the draft and end up on espn for being at a bar in a fight and killing a person. GET SMART DERRICK AND FOLLOW RICKS PLAN. LOOK AT ALL THE PLAYERS THAT STAYED. THEY ARE WELL ROUNDED PEOPLE AND SMARTER.!

i do wish him the best . however I wish that he would have given it one more year to further develop himself. he has been a factor in the tournament, but I would have loved to see one more year of him on the collage level to further polish himself. he will be fine in the NBA overall

Ramses you make it so obvious what you think about African-American athletes with your racially inspired idiotic comments.<br /><br />Maurice Clarett was just another in a long line of African-American athletes who was used and abused then tossed by the business of big time college sports.<br /><br />As for your Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Rev. Wright comments, I'll just leave it at this. <br /><br />Jesse Helms. Strom Strom Thurmond, Pat Buchanan, David Duke among just a few white guys who over the years never hesitated to let America know just how and what they felt about African-Americans in this country.<br /><br />Reverend Wright and his comments are no more than anything Buchanan, Thurmond, Helms and countless others have said.<br /><br />It strikes me odd that some whites have taken offense to Wright's comment.<br /><br />Don't whine ! The chickens have come home to roost !<br /><br />You're a pathetic individual who can't make a negative comment about Caracter without using some racist undertones.<br /><br />Base your opinion on the kid's basketball ability ! Not his skin color ! If he doesn't make it then he has no one but himself to blame.<br /><br />UNC's Tyler Hansbrough is leaning towards the NBA yet no one has called him a thug or drug dealer or dumb etc etc etc and Caracter has more talent in his pinky finger than Hansbrough has in his whole body !<br /><br />A few years ago then Florida guard and current Miami Heat player, Jason Williams was a problem child having been caught and suspended for drug violations, not attending classes etc etc but he wasn't coined a thug or drug dealer !<br /><br />Why is that ?

Hope the Dude likes to travel overseas because thats where he is going to end up playing.My guess is taht he will not even be drafted by an NBA team, the Knicks won't pick him either.Oh well I'm sure he made the best of his 2 years at college and is just a few credit hours short of getting his degree in Underwater Basket Weaving.Something about this young mans behavior tells me he has a strong fallback plan if his hoop dreams fall short.

Rameses Not so Great - what are you, a Caracter assassin? Even though I think he's dumb to leave, Caracter has NEVER been accused of anything except laziness. "Swayed from the path" was defined very clearly by Pitino: Derrick missed curfew by 10 minutes.<br />Shortsighted, yes. Egotistical, maybe. But a thug or criminal -- no evidence of that.

Rameses the great...WOW!!! People do change at least give him a running chance. You have him failing before he even gets started. And I don't think that anything wll be handed to him wheather he want's it that way or not. He will have to work to make an NBA team or he will whind up playing overseas like the other college ball players who just did not have what it takes to make it in the NBA. But damn give the guy a chance!

As a fan of Louisville, I wish Derrick all the best. I thought that his play has really started to come around as of late. I would've love to see him put one more year in at U of L I think it wou;d've helped him out in the long run but hey it's his decision to move on and I wish him all the best. I just hope that he will get to play and not end up DEEP on some Pro teams bench. Good luck the rest of the way in the tournament.

Haven't seen a word about this on local news in Louisville, which is curious, since they're spending lots of air time on the Cards of course, and they've covered Caracter's career pretty closely.

First and foremost, it's really sad that people make comments that are obviously tinged with racism by implying that Caracter is a thug or drug dealer because he's an African-American college basketball player. <br /><br />I happen to be a resident of Louisville KY and I can assure you Caracter has never been accused of dealing drugs.<br /><br />Now he has swayed off the path but then again he's a young 19/20 year old kid who just happens to be good at a game called basketball !<br /><br />If it's his desire to turn pro then let him try his luck. Good or bad, right or wrong, it's his decision and his alone.<br /><br />No one complains about the amount of dollars that the colleges and universities make from exploiting these kids for their talents. <br /><br />The coach's make six and seven figure salaries as a result of these kids' talent.<br /><br />Rick Pitino lives in a $300,000 home on Lake Forest and all Caracter and the other kids get are free room and board, free tuition, free books, a few dollars for spending change while Pitino lives in a lap of luxury.<br /><br />I never down any college athlete who wants to turn pro. It's about time after the high school games, aau games and countless other games they play for free, that they reap the rewards of their talent.<br /><br />If a young kid was a computer programming wiz and never made a cent from his work while someone reaped the rewards, white america would be in an uproar.