Tony Mitchell steers clear of the what-if game.
Academic issues scuttled his plans of playing basketball at Missouri. He had to wait a year to begin his collegiate career, potentially delaying a big payday for him in the NBA.
Yet, Mitchell talks about having no regrets about how things turned out. The ultra-talented forward and his North Texas teammates visit Omaha to open the season with a Friday night game against Nos. 15 and 16 Creighton.
“I’m tremendously blessed in spite of the setbacks I went through,” Mitchell said by telephone before Tuesday’s practice. “I’m in a great position. My teammates and I are ready to play. We have a lot of talent on this team, and we feel we can compete with any team in the country.
“There has been some frustration, but you just have to keep moving forward. The thing that kept me going was that I never looked at what I was going through but what I was going to.”
Many basketball observers think Mitchell’s destination is NBA stardom. The 6-foot-8 sophomore decided to return to North Texas rather than taking a shot at pro basketball after last season, and he is considered a possible lottery pick in next summer’s draft.
When Mitchell became eligible for the Mean Green last December, his first game drew 21 NBA scouts. A Creighton official said 10 or more scouts are expected Friday to get an early-season read on Mitchell and Doug McDermott, the Bluejays’ 6-8 All-America forward.
The two were teammates two summers ago on the U.S. under-19 national team. Creighton coach Greg McDermott, who followed his son to Lithuania for an international tournament, was impressed with what he saw from Mitchell.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete, maybe the best athlete in the country,” McDermott said. “He’s 6-8 and has tremendous jumping ability. He’s powerful and he’s worked on his skill set to where he’s doing some things off the dribble and he’s making some 3-pointers.
Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20121106/BLUEJAYS/703019953/1070#mean-green-s-mitchell-isn-t-looking-back
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