Terry Rozier’s quiet NBA journey has him on the precipice of becoming a star

While the Boston Celtics may be in a rough position limping into the playoffs decimated with injuries, third year guard Terry Rozier has a prime opportunity.

June 25th, 2015.

This was the night that would change the life of 21-year old Terry Rozier forever, going from a star guard for the University of Louisville Cardinals, to a rookie on one of the NBA’s most iconic and prestigious franchises-the Boston Celtics. The announcement that he was the first selection of the draft by Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge was not met with fanfare and excitement that the new rookie was probably looking for. Instead, most Celtics fans had their eyes on Georgia State’s sharpshooter R.J. Hunter, but we’ll get in to that a little bit later.

Terry’s decision to leave school early wasn’t as easy to make as it was for players that are the Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, or Lonzo Ball caliber of player, where it wasn’t any secret that they were just making a short 9-month stop at their respective schools (and for Simmons, it wasn’t even that long). He knew that if he waited another year, he would more than likely be drafted higher, and thus being able to secure even more money. However, Terry had to take a look at his family’s situation and make a tough, but mature, decision.

“Terry looks at home and sees his mom working two jobs, and she’s going 16, 17 hours a day,” Pitino told reporters Monday. “And he says, ‘OK, maybe I wouldn’t be drafted as high as I would be if I waited one more year, but I’d rather sacrifice that for my mom not having to work two jobs.’”

 So Terry had to make a decision that isn’t an uncommon one that a lot of these guys have to make: Do I stay in school and play for free, or do I make the jump now to help out my family’s situation?

He chose the latter.

And honestly, who could blame him? Sure, it would have been great to have the guard who lead the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game to come back as a junior, but Terry had to make a difficult decision about what would be best for himself and his family. Especially since Terry got pid big-time.

Terry’s pre-draft projections had him a bit all over the place. After a “head-turning” showing at both the LeBron James Skills Academy and Adidas Nations camps in the summer of 2014, Rozier leaped on to the 2015 NBA draft radar and was being projected as an early first-rounder if he had a strong season for the Cardinals. However, despite these early draft projections, over time his draft stock began to slip and slip away. Draft sites such as ESPN, SI, and DraftExpress had the sophomore guard out of the first round altogether. It seemed that most indications showed that Rozier would likely be selected somewhere in the mid-to-late range of the first round, and SB Nation’s mock draft had him pegged at 27th overall.

So now, we are back to June 25th, 2015.

With draft projections ranging all over the place, Terry did not receive an invite to attend the NBA draft to hear his name get called and walk across the stage to greet NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Instead, he wound up watching the draft at home around his friends and family to wait and see where his road to the NBA may start. To his surprise, he would not have to wait too long on finding that out.

With the 16th pick, he was selected by the Boston Celtics.

There’s always excitement when you find out that you are one of the few people on the planet that is talented enough to get drafted in the NBA by any team. But getting drafted by one of the premiere franchises in the sport with their first pick? Especially when you weren’t expecting them to give you a call? Well, sometimes you just have to go jump in a pool to celebrate.