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With Draft Day Looming, Andy Rautins Faces Another Uphill Climb
Many a pair of eyes are fixated on Wesley Johnson this week, and why shouldn’t they? He was a megastar from the second he stepped on the court for SU and helped power the team to a surprise top-five ranking all season and earned first-team All America honors.
As draft projections become more refined, and with mock drafts changing by the second leading up to the big night on Thursday, Wes has pulled a top-five ranking of his own, currently projecting to be picked third by the New Jersey Nets, just after John Wall and Evan Turner.
But what about Andy Rautins, the engine to the Orange hot-rod last season? (or was he the keys? I’m bad with car metaphors.)
As we saw last season, Andy had the versatility of a spork, canning three-pointers, disrupting passing lanes, getting the ball moving in transition and, as he did most of his career, diving all over the floor for loose balls.
His work ethic and varied skill set garnered attention from NBA scouts, resulting in invites to predraft workouts with a large chunk of pro teams. In making the rounds, Andy has begun planning for the transition to play the point. At 6’4”, Andy is too undersized to stick at shooting guard but also not experienced enough for GM types to trust him bringing the ball up the court.
This puts him in somewhat of a precarious situation in regards to his future. At present, he’s a fringe second rounder, if he is to get drafted at all. Essentially, he’ll have to prove himself in summer leagues and hope to catch a break or two.
The college basketball media didn’t think much of Andy Rautins when he started up at the ‘Cuse back in 2005, which seems like eons ago, but he went on to prove them wrong in front of our very eyes, even conquering an ACL tear. It looks like he’ll have a similar mountain to climb at the professional level, but if anyone’s up to the challenge, it’s Andy.
