Trey Thompkins says he’ll skip NBA draft, remain at UGA
ATHENS -– Georgia sophomore forward Trey Thompkins has made his decision: He’ll forgo the NBA draft and remain at UGA for his junior season in 2010-11.
Thompkins revealed the decision in impromptu fashion Thursday night at the UGA Tipoff Club’s end-of-season banquet at Athens Country Club.
“Don’t worry, Coach, I’m coming back,” Thompkins said when coach Mark Fox alluded from the podium to the stay-or-go decision facing the first-team All-SEC player.
Thompkins’ words drew a long, loud ovation from the crowd of 200-plus and this reaction from an unsuspecting Fox: “God bless you, Trey.”
Thompkins, Georgia’s leading scorer and rebounder this past season, said in an interview immediately following the banquet that his decision is firm and final, although the deadline to enter the draft is 10 days away.
“I’m coming back,” he said.
Thompkins had been considering for the past month whether to enter the draft or remain at Georgia for another season. He said he reached his decision late Wednesday night.
“I was sitting in my room, thinking,” he said. “I was up in the air until [then]. It hit me that I want to stay in school. . . . It just popped in my head last night.”
Thompkins said he didn’t alert Fox or anyone else that he might reveal the decision at the banquet.
“My parents didn’t even know that was going to happen,” Thompkins said. “Coach just made it easy for me to announce it, so I did.”
Fox unwittingly triggered Thompkins’ announcement by referring to a comment made earlier in the banquet by assistant coach Stacey Palmore, who had said he was looking forward to having Thompkins back. “Now, Coach Palmore was calling you out about next year,” Fox said. “I’m not going to do that.”
At that point, Thompkins ended the suspense.
“I was shocked/not shocked when he said it,” Fox said. “Because in my heart that’s what I felt like he would probably do in the end, but I was surprised that he mentioned it tonight.”
Fox said he is proud of how maturely Thompkins handled the decision-making process, especially as many underclassmen less accomplished than him declared for the draft in recent weeks. Thompkins was second in the SEC in scoring (17.7 points per game) and fourth in rebounds (8.3 per game) this past season.
“You see it on the ticker every night. There’s somebody else on the ticker [entering the draft], and you’re scratching your head,” Fox said. “Then you see a guy who has a legitimate chance and a legitimate decision to make, and he makes a mature one like that. It makes you feel good.”
A big factor in the decision, Thompkins said, is the potential he sees for the 2010-11 Georgia basketball team. Teammate Travis Leslie, the Dogs’ second leading scorer this past season, earlier announced he also will return for his junior year.
“This team can be great,” Thompkins said. “I’ve got a passion to win, and I definitely see it in the future for us.”
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
342 comments Add your comment
4 ncs are better than 1
April 16th, 2010
5:26 pm
Truth hurts, doesn’t it!
bruce mac
April 16th, 2010
5:27 pm
God 4 to 1 are you still on here trying to get someone to recognize your 4 Mythical National Championships. Your football program died with Bobby Dodd and will not recover. Stay with the BBall dribble, at least it is half way logical.
4 ncs are better than 1
April 16th, 2010
5:31 pm
Mac, now you know it is ALL logical. The football stuff just really sticks in your craw!
bruce mac
April 16th, 2010
5:34 pm
You haven’t won a major bowl game in over 40 years. Do you really think anybody takes GT football seriously? BBall yes, Football, no.
Hey, 4 ncs are better than 1
April 16th, 2010
5:45 pm
1. Winning the ACC in football is not much of an accomplishment
2. gt’s best team in 20 years couldn’t beat UGA’s worst team in 20 years
3. The Joke by the Coke runs a gimmicky High School Offense
4. How will Johnson do now that Gailey’s talent is running out of eligibility?
5. How did that BCS Bowl game work out this year? Do you miss the blue turf of Boise?
6. How do you get past the smell of the “Red Dot” ladies of gt?
7. Take away the international student population and gt is on par with West Ga College
8 Finally.. Please quit stroking your stinger and eating boogers!
PTC DAWG
April 16th, 2010
5:50 pm
Nice to know the GT nerds care.
Sanford Drive
April 16th, 2010
5:54 pm
Care is an understatement. 4 ncs has been on this blog since 10 AM yesterday.
bruce mac
April 16th, 2010
6:16 pm
Army and Yale were good too, back in the Day. Now they suck just like GT and Clemson and Duke and Maryland and Virginia and North Carolina State and heck, I guess is the whole friggin ACC that sucks.
4 ncs are better than 1
April 16th, 2010
7:25 pm
Well guys, this has been really fun. When is the last time you have all been this mad???? I have really had some good laughs today! Remember, I just state the FACTS! Look back over the history of college football, GT is the national power while ugay is an after thought. You have done better the last ten years, wait, except for the last two. I would, in all honesty, rank your program a little above say a, South Carolina and a little below a VT type program. Fairly good, but nowhere near elite. Looking at it from a historical perspective, one NC puts you on a level with say, Clemson. Forget about BB, you truly suck at that and I don’t see any relief coming your way. Baseball, well just remember 25-6, I think that says it all. But hey, the gym dogs rock!
Bill
April 16th, 2010
7:26 pm
First, Dawg fans shouldn’t be acting so pompous after losing by a football score of 25-6….Tompkins staying is fabulous for Athens. You have a very good coach who gets the most from his players. Something our coach at Tech stopped doing in 2004. I honestly believe Ga makes the NCAA next year ( even if it’s still at 65). I love watching your team and wish we had a coach like Fox. Congrats to your good fortune. Enjoy your rebirth as a good Hoops program. …BTW, who will be your new Baseball Coach in 2012?
Dawg Stephen
April 16th, 2010
9:05 pm
http://dawgstephen.blogspot.com/2010/04/gotta-start-mettenbeger-if-you-want-to.html
mark
April 17th, 2010
12:14 am
4 ncs are better than 1
question for you, how does it feel to know that out of 101 uga/tech meetings, georgia has won 59 and lost 37 and tied 5 times?????
how does it make you feel when uga plays in atlanta that more than half the stadium has uga fans?
you claim that you got a thrill out of “making us mad”…. well does the truth make you mad?
observor
April 17th, 2010
1:06 am
Wow, these blogs just bring out the worst element of every fan base….
beatdowns galore
April 17th, 2010
6:15 am
25- 6 whew……………
Matt
April 17th, 2010
6:35 am
We’ll be waiting…
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2010/apr/16/041710uthoops/?partner=popular
GT
April 17th, 2010
8:22 am
Stacey Palmore was working on Thompkin’s immature side if you ask me. Why would you turn down millions to stay at a football school. Maybe a Duke or a North Carolina where you are getting an education in substitute for what you are giving up plus you have a whole state recognizing your contribution, but this is Georgia. And this is the SEC, basketball lives in the basement. The only reason it has any legs is because the region is so rich in talent and the schools are so rich off of FOOTBALL money, most of those kids couldn’t spell Duke or Carolina or have ever heard of higher education. Thompkin either knows he won’t be drafted high, meaning he can’t make the NBA or he is a fool.
Stinger
April 17th, 2010
9:26 am
All opponents are thrilled that Trey is coming back. Just another average ball player @ UGAY. The mere fact that he thought he was good enough to play pro ball is a friggin joke. UGA has no one good enough to play pro basketball. I guess that goes without saying about your baseball team. Most of them are not good enough to start for most local high schools in Cobb county. Your football team has zero # 1 draft choices. It’s great to be a yellow jacket.
Stinger
April 17th, 2010
9:29 am
25-6. More to come @ Turner Field. Get out your brooms, a sweep is coming.
Louie Jr.
April 17th, 2010
10:06 am
I want to know where Louie is…..the little pansey must be in some poopy parade in Midtown?
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
10:06 am
Just dropped in for a minute to throw my little doggies a bone! Guess who the biggest FLOP in college football history is? The 2008 georgia bulldogs! I read somewhere that no team has ever finished the season ranked lower than they did after being the preseason number 1 team!!!!!!!!!! I guess if you can’t win NCs then at least be the very best at something!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Colorado Buffalo's 1990 Football National Champions
April 17th, 2010
10:23 am
GA has 5 Nat Championships in Football.
Carz
April 17th, 2010
10:36 am
Trey is a really good player, Stinger. Better than any player on Tech. Granted, Favors has more upside, but he was not nearly as a good as a freshman than Thompkins was, and not close to Thompkins second year.
I understand the rivalry, but if you don’t think Trey is at least a solid NBA player in wating, you know nothing about basketball.
nesbittch
April 17th, 2010
11:14 am
its kinda funny when 25-6 is the only sports score that tech can throw out this year…baseball? really? oh yeah cuz we wipe the floor with you in every other sport
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
11:28 am
Nes, you don’t wipe the floor with anyone, you squeak by. 25-6, now that is WIPING THE FLOOR! And don’t forget 4 will always, no matter what kind of spin you try to put on it, be better than 1 itty, bitty one.
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
11:36 am
Carz, maybe the problem here is that nobody even knows who the hell Trey Thompkins is! Being a good player at ugay and the sec doesn’t carry the same weight as GT and the ACC. I can assure you IF he was good enough and the NBA wanted him he would not be giving up millions to come back to that joke of a BB program. Ask yourself, if he is so good WHY ON EARTH DID HE GO TO ugay?
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
11:40 am
Name one player in the NBA that went to ugay.
We have two Urange Bowl trips
April 17th, 2010
11:50 am
A university or college athletic program’s football greatness and prowess is determined only by history. Blogs matter not, nor biased writers, nor wealthy alumni, only HISTORY determines how successful a football program is. Recruiting is only a possible indicator for two and three years down the road. HISTORY can pin point success or failure with 100% accuracy.
In this world ……..driven by money ……..a bowl is the measure of a school’s worthiness. This last year, my ala mater did not live up to its historical participation in very decent to great bowls. UGA ended up in the Independence for the SECOND TIME in about 23? years. We will do better in 2010, 2011, 2012. IN 2013 ……………HISTORY in 2014 will tell us if I was correct.
Take sad lil tech ……………they have been to ONLY TWO MAJOR BOWLS in 43 years. Wow! Not two LOUSY bowls like the Independence but ONLY TWO majors in 43 years. They won the NC in 90, along with ND, Colorado, and Miami, and maybe two or three others, depending on what newspapaer you read and where you read it. They went to the lowly Citrus in 1990 to win it and it has been cancelled.
Folks, history knows far better than what most bloggers conjure up here and the younger they are, the more they show that they were found under a cabbage patch in 1988 or 89 and they bang away on their keys w.o. a clue of any real hard facts. Kids and clueless most are on this site.
HISTORY tells us who the major schools are like UGA is …….14 years with 8 or more wins in a row and tons of Outbacks, Cap Ones and Sugar Bowls and a Chi Fil A or two. Name one school besides UGA that can claim that distinction. OK? TX? BAMA? Florida?,USC? OHIO STATE??
NOPE …………only UGA. UGA alums LOVE our long record of success and we love Coach Richt.
.
Go Dogs.
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
11:52 am
Colorado, you can’t count what the Athen’s Gazette says. I’m talking about LEGITIMATE titles.
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
11:57 am
To the guy who is too dumb to spell ORANGE, I love to see you brag about Capital One Bowls and Outback Bowls!!!!! That my friends is what I have been talking about!!!!!!
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
11:58 am
Keep talking about HISTORY baby!!!! Paint yourself into a corner DUMBA$$!!!!!
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
12:05 pm
URANGE, (snicker) You just make up this crap as you go, don’t you? Your ALA MATER? (snicker). It is obvious this man is not very smart! Talking history with a GT fan is like bringing a knife to a gunfight! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
12:15 pm
OK?TX?BAMA?FLA?USC?OHIO ST? You are right URANGE those teams can’t claim the distinction of playing in the Capital One Bowl! All those teams have been busy winning NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS while ugay was in those 2nd tier bowls!!!!!!!!!!!
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
12:17 pm
Look that up in your (((((((NEWSPAPAER!!!!!)))))))) HAHAHA!!!!! MORE WATER, PLEASE!!!!!!!!
GT = Best Buy/Geek Squad 40k/year LOSER
April 17th, 2010
12:21 pm
4 ncs are better than 1- What’s wrong there poopsky cakes? Your boyfriend kick you of bed in the apartment you share with him in Midtown, so now your g-string is too tight so you let your angst out on UGA. Just bite your lip and shut up, kind of like when you are in your normal “position”.
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
12:24 pm
Hey URANGE, GT has SIX Urange bowl trips!
4 ncs are better than 1
April 17th, 2010
12:27 pm
Maybe I should call myself 6 Orange Bowls are better than 2!
GoDOGS1
April 17th, 2010
1:27 pm
4 ncs are better than 1 …..Ha ha ha ha…..you got taken to the cleaners, boy! “We have two Urange Bowl trips” made you like the fool you are. Too funny! Chump.
dawgdawgdawg
April 17th, 2010
2:59 pm
Stinger said: All opponents are thrilled that Trey is coming back. Just another average ball player @ UGAY. The mere fact that he thought he was good enough to play pro ball is a friggin joke. UGA has no one good enough to play pro basketball. I guess that goes without saying about your baseball team. Most of them are not good enough to start for most local high schools in Cobb county. Your football team has zero # 1 draft choices. It’s great to be a yellow jacket.
Dear Stinger:
First off, I wouldn’t call the leading scorer in the SEC last year an “average” ball player. Look at his draft projections for next year, idiot…that’s why he is waiting a year.
Second: you said our football team has “zero #1 draft choices”. Umm, have you heard of a guy named Matthew Stafford? I also believe Moreno was the first running back taken last year. AJ Green will be the first receiver taken next year, possibly even the first pick.
Moron.
Big D Dawg
April 18th, 2010
1:45 am
ok techmites, you beat us 25-6 in baseball, but yet you guys are always spouting the nc in football? 4? and when was the last one? 91 doesn’t count it was shared and yours wasn’t the AP which is what most people count. I’ve been around since 54 and I don’t know of one. now back to baseball, since your counting nc, we have a real one in baseball, what do you have? and how many times in the last 10 years have you been to the world series? we’ve got more there too! so stfu
jc_dawgs
April 19th, 2010
6:04 pm
Ware, Leslie, Robinson, Trey, and Price…not bad!
wolfbait67
April 21st, 2010
11:45 pm
Watch out……the human highlight show is about to remerge at UGA with the returning players and its new supporting cast of incoming freshmen…….Thank you CMF for bringing UGA BB back to the Bulldawg Nation……….
Patrick Graham
July 18th, 2010
1:59 am
I read that “ghsclassof2012″ mentioned that chess didn’t count as a sport so Tech couldn’t claim it as a sport that they were better at than UGA. Kind of off topic but I’d like to point out something. Even if chess did count, tech isn’t better at chess than UGA! As founder of the UGA Chess Dawgs I’ve been to the past two intercollegiate chess tournaments and have seen the bulldogs defeat the jackets handily each year. I just wanted to set the record straight on that before anyone got the wrong idea.