April 25, 2007

It's official, Collison stays

UCLA's chances for success for next season increased dramatically when point guard Darren Collison decided to stay with the Bruins for at least one more season. Collison met earlier in the day to discuss his decision with the press.

It seemed to be a relatively easy decision for Collison and he has one major goal he still wants achieve while he wears the four letters on his chest.

How hard was it this decision and what went into it?

Collison: "It wasn't too difficult to make this decision. I didn't put too much thought process. My two years at this school were really enjoyable and my goal as always been to win a championship and I didn't succeed my sophomore year so I'm ready to take another knock at it my junior year."

Did you ever come close to testing the waters like Arron Afflalo did last year? Just to see what people thought of you…

Collison: "It wasn't really even a close thought process about it. I knew a lot of people were interested, but for me personally when I spoke with my parents about it we wanted to be more on the safe side. We always thought UCLA basketball when it came down to it."

Is it safe to say that you really didn't think about that much at all, if at all?

Collison: "Very little, for the most part I wanted to win a championship here and I'm dedicated winning games for UCLA. I still have a lot more improvement for the next level. The NBA is not going anywhere and I'm just satisfied and content staying where I'm at right now."

Do you have any sense where you may have been picked?

Collison: "No, I have no idea. I have heard a lot, but you know, it was not all relevant to my decision. I really didn't care it was all about me personally, not where I was going to be, but how I was going to improve and I was looking forward to improve for my next year's team at UCLA."

Did you give it at all any thought about maybe not where you would have been picked but that your draft status may better next year?

Collison: "Again the decision had nothing to do with where I was going to be. I didn't look into that too much. My whole idea was just improving as a player and like I said, I was trying to win a championship and I didn't succeed.

"This year I'm trying to win a championship and am trying to improve as a player individually to get to that next step."

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