Nik Stauskas adjusts to life away from Michigan, looks to break into top 10 of NBA draft (original) (raw)

14716557-standard.jpg

Former Michigan guard Nik Stauskas, left, and Jordan Morgan watch highlights from the 2013-14 season at Michigan basketball's annual awards banquet at Crisler Center on April 16.

(Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR -- Dumped on a Chicago street corner, Nik Stauskas watched his driver from the airport give a wave and an accompanying, "Alright, see ya. Make sure you're on time tomorrow."

The Michigan sophomore-turned-NBA hopeful looked around.

He thought for a minute. What now? What's for breakfast? How do I get there?

Stauskas spent the last two years at Michigan, blossoming from a recruit to a role player to a star to a potential NBA lottery pick. All along the way, as it tends to go with high-level Division I basketball and football players, most of his needs were tended to.

He was told when to be where and when to eat what. He was given a catalog's worth of maize and blue shirts, shorts, pants, shoes and any garment in between. He was managed, handled and directed.

Now Stauskas was alone in Chicago, ready to meet with a personal stylist to pick out a suit for the NBA draft and, from there, embark on a few days of NBA pre-draft workouts alongside fellow hopefuls.

"I'm just so used to having (Michigan director of program personnel) CJ Lee and all these guys who are always looking after you and making sure you're OK," Stauskas said Monday, enjoying another new territory of his new world -- signing autographs and getting paid for it. "Like, that was the first time I was in a city that I don't know, by myself. And they're like, 'Well, we'll see ya later."

Stauskas visited Chicago last week as of guest of Priority Sports, an agency headed by Mark Bartelstein, the father of former U-M player Josh Bartelstein. Stauskas, along with teammate Mitch McGary, signed with Priority to represent him and prepare him for the June 26 NBA draft.

Having visited Ann Arbor on Monday for a public autograph session at the downtown M-Den on State Street, Stauskas will soon return to Chicago and get back to work.

He's hoping all this newness leads to a single destination: the NBA lottery.

And he's hoping to take that one step farther -- into the top 10 of the draft.

"(The NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee) gave me really positive information and a lot of people are saying (I am a) possible lottery (pick), but my goal, if I could get in that top 10, that would be awesome," Stauskas said.

"But I think, more than anything, it's about finding a good fit -- finding a team that's going to really give me an opportunity to play and a city that I'm going to be happy in. I'd rather have a great fit than going really high, so we'll see where that goes."

Stauskas is working out alongside fellow former college stars Doug McDermott (Creighton), Sean Kilpatrick (Cincinnati), Joe Harris (Virginia), Adreian Payne (Michigan State) and McGary, among others.

At the workouts, unlike his days as an undergraduate at Michigan, Stauskas, 20, works out from 9 a.m. to noon, spends a session lifting weights, eats lunch and then spends the rest of the day however he pleases.

"It's cool having a little bit more freedom now and kind of growing up a little bit," Stauskas said.

That doesn't mean it's all stylists and skyscrapers.

"I thought I worked hard until I got there and then realized that, once this becomes your job, the intensity level goes up another level -- just like from high school to college, college to the NBA," Stauskas said. "There's always that next jump."

Currently appearing anywhere from No. 10 to No. 16 in mock drafts, Stauskas is hoping strong individual workouts can push into single digits.

Stauskas, the 2014 Big Ten player of the year, averaged 17.5 points per game and dished out a team-best 118 assists last season. In what he called at the time "an easy decision," he declared for the draft on April 15.

At 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, scouts envision Stauskas as an NBA shooting guard who possesses the ball-handling and court vision to slide over and earn minutes at point guard. With his offensive arsenal as the selling point, he's looking to prove he can offer more.

The opportunity will come when Stuaskas is invited for individual workouts with interested NBA teams.

"I think it's really going to come down to going into those workouts and showing teams that I can defend," he said. "I think that's really going to be the only question about my game. Can I defend at the next level and can I put on strength -- can I guard guys, really?"

There will of course be at least one other question, though. That breakfast isn't going to choose itself.

Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball and football. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.