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Staley Leaves Cougars, Will Turn Pro
PROVO, UTAH -- With deadline entry date of Jan. 11 for the National
Football League draft, BYU All-American runner Luke Staley, will have
to tackle a career decision of whether to make a run for the Heisman
Trophy or declare himself eligible for the draft. BYU head coach,
Gary Crowton, claims Staley is still mulling his options.
"I don't think he can make any decisions right now," Crowton said.
"He and I have talked a few times about what he wants to do. He just
had an injury. He doesn't know where he'd go in the draft." In the
final moments of a Cougar victory at Misssippi State on Dec. 1,
Staley broke the fibula in his left leg while being tackled, but is
expected to heal completely in five to six months.
"He wouldn't be playing in spring practice if he had no injury at
all, no need for a guy like Staley to be practicing in spring before
his senior year," said orthopedic surgeon Kirt Kimball. "If he
chooses to go pro, he wouldn't be back in time for that."
CBS football analyst, Pete Brisco, said Staley has a good chance of
being picked high in the NFL draft in April. "Luke Staley would be a
first-round draft pick," Brisco said. "He won't be a top-10 pick, but
he'd definitely go in the first round. I'd advise him in his
situation right now to go to the NFL."
Crowton thinks Staley will make a sound decision. "He's a very
thoughtful person. He'll think it through and make a good decision.
We'll support him. We want what's best for him," Crowton added. "He
played healthy and had an excellent year. The only injury that I'm
worried about is his injury now. The knees have healed, the shoulders
have healed and that was evident in the way he played this year. Now
he has a new injury. The thing about this new injury is rehab time.
Does he have enough rehab time to convince the scouts that he's worth
the early draft, or does he need some time to heal up? It's too early
to call right now."
Source:
Staley will turn pro BYU running back decides to skip senior season
Provo UT Daily Herald pgA1 22Dec01 S2
By Dick Harmon
BYU running back decides to skip senior season
Will Luke stay or go pro?
Deseret News 21Dec01 S2
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