With the NCAA national champion crowned and the season officially over, many seniors are looking for the June NBA draft to continue their basketball careers. Cyclone senior Dedric Willoughby is one of those seniors who hopes to continue his career.

“I hope I’m a part of it. It will be interesting to see where everybody goes in the draft. There are a lot of good players out there. I was at a camp in Virginia with the top 64 players in the nation, and I liked my chances,” Willoughby said.

Since the season ended with the loss to UCLA in the Sweet 16, Willoughby has traveled to Indianapolis for the college basketball three-point contest and recently to the NBA scout camp in Virginia.

A lot of hard work goes into making it to the NBA, and Willoughby is well aware of that, citing the numerous pick-up games he plays everyday.

“Everyday at six o’clock I go down to the rec and play pick-up games to stay in shape. If I can get up in time in the mornings, I go down to the Jacobson building and sit in the hot tub and work the kinks out of the hamstring,” Willoughby said.

It was Willoughby’s hamstring that caused him to miss several games in the early part of the 1996-97 basketball season. That injury caused early concern as to where Willoughby would stand in the NBA draft.

“The injury is in the past, all the scouts get to see me at the camps. I’ve talked to 13 teams’ GM’s and scouts so far, and they said they really liked my competitiveness. If the injury did not happen at all, they said I could have been a top-five pick. But if I just keep doing what I’ve been doing, I’ll get right back up there,” Willoughby said.

It is that competitiveness that Willoughby relies on to succeed at the next level, not the love of money.

“I don’t really like the NBA that much. Most of the players play for the money, and I play for the love of the game. Don’t get me wrong, I like money and everything, but NBA players don’t give it their all,” Willoughby said.

Even with the possibility of the NBA looming ahead for Willoughby, he remains enrolled at classes, despite rumors that Willoughby, senior Kelvin Cato and senior Kenny Pratt quit school to concentrate on the upcoming draft.

“I did not quit school. I don’t know where that rumor came from. I dropped a few classes because those teachers did not understand what I was trying to do. I’m still taking nine credits, but it’s been like an extended basketball season with all the traveling I’ve been doing, going to all the different camps. After this semester I’ll need six more credits to get my degree, I want my degree,” Willoughby said.

Teammate Pratt is still currently enrolled at ISU as well, while Cato has withdrawn from classes.

“Cato left on good academic standings, so he can return to Iowa State to get his degree,” said Iowa State Media Relations Director Tom Kroeschell. “Willoughby and Pratt are still enrolled and still taking classes at Iowa State.”

The rumor that Willoughby, Pratt and Cato had quit school surfaced on Monday.

“It’s sickening nowadays. That rumor started when someone called in on that WHO show and said they had heard that Cato, Willoughby and Pratt had dropped out of school to concentrate on the draft. From there it went,” Kroeschell said.