Stuckey hires agent, all set for NBA draft

Not so long ago, when Rodney Stuckey was a sophomore attending a basketball camp at Eastern Washington with Kentwood High School, Mike Burns of Eastern told him that one day he'd find himself getting ready for the NBA.

"It's finally here," Stuckey said Wednesday from the Eastern campus. "It's crazy."

Stuckey, the prolific, 6-foot-4 guard, has signed with Goodwin Sports Management and will stay in the June 28 NBA draft, where he is widely projected to be a latter-first-round choice.

Wednesday, ESPN.com had Stuckey going 15th in the draft, and it was that kind of bullish input that convinced him to move away from a statement in February that he'd definitely return to Eastern.

"Just the information I've been given was pretty much it," said Stuckey, who averaged 24.4 points in his two seasons at Eastern. "When you get good feedback saying you're a first-round pick ... I've got to do what's best for me and my family.

"Not a lot of players get to be in position to be doing this. I thought this year was the best year for me to go."

Burns, the Eastern coach, said an NBA advisory committee told Stuckey it projected him from picks Nos. 20 to 30, "and they're always very conservative."

Stuckey is a combination point and off guard, probably more advanced right now as a scorer. He is considered a strong, get-to-the-rim force, but one who has at times also shown shooting and passing ability.

"Look at the numbers he's put up: They're staggering," said Burns. "He's had a phenomenal career.

"The one gift he may have that's even greater than his ability to score is his ability to pass, and his vision."

After leading Kentwood to the Class 4A state championship in 2004, Stuckey sat out his college freshman year as a non-qualifier. Otherwise, he would have drawn much more intense recruiting interest.

Stuckey had better shooting numbers in his first year at Eastern than his second, becoming Big Sky Conference player of the year and hitting 49 percent, .372 on threes. He fell off to .453 overall and .267 last season, but improved his assist-to-turnover ratio from 1.15 to 1.63.

"He was forced to take some difficult shots at the end of the clock, and in difficult situations," Burns said. "People believe he can handle it, shoot it, score it, all those things."

Stuckey finishes as Eastern's fourth-leading career scorer with 1,438 points. The leader, Ron Cox, a product of the 1970s, is the only other Eastern player drafted by the NBA.

The only first-round NBA pick in the 44-year history of the Big Sky was Micheal Ray Richardson of Montana in 1978.

Stuckey said he relied on Burns and AAU coach Francis Williams for postseason advice, and interviewed four or five agents.

"I just had a bond with the Goodwins," said Stuckey. "I know the good work they do, and I know they'll do that for me in the future."

Despite Stuckey's heroics, Eastern did not flourish in his two years. It lost in the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament in 2005-06 and failed to make the six-team tournament last season.

"We've kind of prepared for the fact he could be departing," said Burns, who last week announced the signing of two junior-college guards, Adris DeLeon of Southern Idaho and James Doran of Sierra.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com