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Curtis Sumpter -- Deal or No Deal?

Curtis Sumpter had a choice to make -- one month versus the possibility of a lifetime of security. Is it worth a gamble? This week, following the mercifully ending Olympics, NBC is putting on its gameshow, Deal or No Deal, every night. On the show, a contestant steps up and picks one briefcase out of 28. In that briefcase is a dollar amount that can range from 1 penny to a million dollars. The contestant is asked to start eliminating the other cases in intervals by choosing one of the scantily clad ratings boosters who hold all the cases on stage. There are several huge amounts below a million, and several small amounts above a penny, and after picking a certain amount of cases and eliminating amounts that aren't in the contestant's case, a banker calls and offers a buyout to try and stop the contestant from hitting the million.

Last night, a lady who brought her whole church choir with her, was down to 3 amounts -- $1, $5, and $300,000. She had a 1/3 chance that $300,000 was in her case. The banker offered her an $80,000 buyout. The choir, and her family, i.e., support system, told her to roll the dice and not take the deal, which meant she would have to choose one more case. She listened to them and promptly picked the case that had $300,000 in it, leaving her case to have only $1 or $5. The banker's offer went off the table and she took home 5 measely dollars.

I use that story as an analogy. The Villanova Wilcats are ranked 4th in the nation and will most likely find themselves a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. They play a punchy, enthusiastic, hair-on-fire style of hoops that will win the hearts of many sideline college hoops fans once its time for the national stage to take over. They have accomplished all this without, perhaps, their best, or certainly most well-rounded, player.

In last year's 2nd round tournament game against Florida (a game Nova would win before moving on to the Sweet 16 to get hosed by eventual national champion North Carolina), Curtis Sumpter's knee buckled and he fell hard to the floor, tearing his ACL. Coming into the season, it was thought that with a healthy Sumpter, Villanova's chances of winning its first national championship since the miracle of 1985 were real. But in October, Sumpter went down again, and again the ACL gave way.

Twice inside 8 months.

Sumpter immediately went to work on rehabbing the knee with the thought that if he pushed it, he could get back in time to help his senior class, a tauted group including oft-injured Jason Fraser and superstars Allen Ray and Randy Foye, win the title they were close to the year before.

As the season has gone on, Nova has proven resilient without Sumpter, running up a 22-3 record, with losses only to No. 2 UConn, No. 7 Texas, and No. 18 West Virginia. So as we head down the stretch toward the Big East tournament, the 6'7" forward had a decision to make -- play with fire and play this season for a month, possibly reinjuring an already tenuous knee, or take a medical redshirt, eschew leaving with your class, and come back next year with starters Mike Nardi, Kyle Lowry and Will Sheridan for another crack at the prize, and perhaps more importantly, raising your stock for those watching at the next level.

Sumpter is an excellent post presence and creates match up problems with the way he can create off the dribble. He averaged 15.3 points last season, shot 43% from beyond the arc (showing his perimeter presence), rebounded and was widely considered Villanova's best defensive player. All those attributes spell N-B-A, so you would think his decision to come back next year would be easy. You would think he would want to be a showcase so that the money is guaranteed in the future.

But this kid has heart, and he wants to be a part of what is already a special season at Nova. It eats him alive to watch Ray and Foye cutting through defenses. They had been in so many battles together before. So there was the question, deal or no deal? Play or buy another year and a safer chance and guaranteeing your future.

Sumpter didn't need the choir, but the lady on the game show sure could have used him. He took the deal. He'll sit on the bench in a shirt and a tie and if Villanova should happen to go cut through the big dance and cut down the nets he can take solace in the fact that he helped build this team into what it is. And next year, he'll have his shot.



This post first appeared on Running The Count Full, please read the originial post: here

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Curtis Sumpter -- Deal or No Deal?

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