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  KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Jason Kapono is still weighing his options –will he be staying for another year at UCLA or going to the NBA?

By Chris Umpierre

Daily Bruin Staff

Most players in his position would be thinking about the NBA on a daily basis.

Thinking about how they’ll spend their first million. Whether they’ll buy a Jaguar or Mercedes Benz. Whether they should not pass the ball in order to show off for NBA scouts.

That’s not Jason Kapono.

The sophomore forward said he’s been so consumed with his team’s drive for a Pac-10 and national championships that he hasn’t thought about his pending decision to go pro or not after this season for months.

Not even for five minutes has he sat down and really thought about whether he should forgo his final two years of eligibility and make the jump to the NBA.

“(College) is fun right now,” said Kapono, who is averaging a team-leading 18 points a game. “Last year we were just trying to make the tournament and now we’re going for a one or two seed. (The thought of going pro) hasn’t even crossed my mind.”

While he has not made a decision in terms of going pro, he has decided that he won’t go about the process the same way he did last season.

He will not “test the NBA waters,” where a player declares for the draft but because they don’t hire an agent they retain the option of withdrawing their name from the draft and returning to school.

Not only was testing the waters expensive – Kapono had to shell out his own money to fly to NBA tryouts – but it was almost impossible to go to school. The constant plane flights and tryouts left little time for papers or midterms.

“I think this year if I do choose to come out then I’m going to come out (all the way),” he said. “I’m going to come out full-fledged or I’m going to stay in school. It’s one or the other."

“I know how the (NBA) workouts go,” Kapono added. “I’ve got a feel for that already. I think it was a smart thing to do (after my freshman year) but I don’t think it’s worth doing year in and year out.”

According to one NBA front office employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Kapono should stay in school.

“I think he still has a lot of things to work on (at UCLA),” the person said. “Defense is certainly one aspect. I know he’s made strides in his rebounding. He has to develop more savvy in being able to get his shot off as well as being able to put the ball on the floor.”

The front office employee expects Kapono to be a first-round pick if he does decide to enter the draft, adding that the NBA has been impressed by Kapono’s willingness to work on the parts of his game that are lacking.

Due to a rigorous summer workout regimen, Kapono has improved his defense and athleticism this season. Those two parts of his game were suspect last season.

“The aspect I like about him is that he’s improved,” the NBA front office employee said. “That’s a great sign for scouts and coaches. That’s one aspect that a lot of players leave out; they don’t work on their weaknesses.”

Although Kapono has no idea what he’ll end up doing, former roommate and current teammate Billy Knight thinks he knows.

“I think he’s going to come back because he’s always talking about the recruits coming in, and how they can come in and play right away.” said Knight, whose team has inked three top-50 players for next season.

“He’s been talking to the younger guys on the team, saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to play with you next year,’” he added.

The recruits aren’t the only thing UCLA has going for it in its hopes to keep Kapono for another year.

The forward is in a much different boat than the two Bruin players, Jerome Moiso and JaRon Rush, who left school for the NBA last season after their sophomore years.

Unlike Moiso, who reportedly didn’t like going to school, Kapono enjoys going to class and being a “college kid” with few worries.

And unlike Rush, who left largely because of financial concerns surrounding the fine he incurred from the NCAA and to support his daughter, Kapono’s family is not struggling. They don’t have to claim hardship.

Kapono says he’ll talk to UCLA Head Coach Steve Lavin, professional players and scouts before the early May deadline to declare for the NBA draft.

He is wary of hard luck stories like Rush, Korleone Young, and Leon Smith – underclassmen who left early and didn’t make it in the NBA.

“You don’t want to come out, get drafted and sit on the bench three years,” Kapono said. “And then after your second contract comes you’re playing in Europe. That’s not fun.”

While he’ll get all the information he can accumulate and talk to a number of people, Kapono says when it comes down to making a decision he’ll do it based on a gut feeling.

“It’s all about timing,” he said. “When you feel you’re ready enough to start playing and carving a niche in the NBA that’s when you go pro.”

Senior guard Jason Flowers, Kapono’s best friend on the team, has all the confidence in the world that Kapono will make a sound decision.

Flowers said he was impressed with the amount of maturity and composure with which Kapono handled last season’s decision.

“He had it all mapped out,” he said.

After declaring on May 13, the forward declined to talk to the media while he tested the waters. He then kept going to class and did not hire an agent in case he wanted to return to Westwood.

On June 16, he decided to withdraw his name and return to school.

Kapono also did not drop any hints of what he might do regarding his recruitment out of high school. After not originally being recruited by UCLA, the school ended up signing him to an unusual grant-in-aid contract

He has a history of playing it close to the vest and not tipping his hand before he wants to. There’s a good chance the public won’t know of his decision until the words come out of his mouth.

“Yeah, you’ll know right before the deadline,” Flowers said. “I’ll probably know tomorrow. No, I’m kidding. I think when it comes down to it he’ll make the right decision.”

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