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PG Aaron Craft (B1G 6th MOY '11, Def POY '12, Acad AA, Dolomiti En. TR - Italy)

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nice article.


Inside Aaron Craft's Decision To Retire From Basketball, Return To Ohio State To Pursue Becoming Physician
Had Aaron Craft and his wife, Amber, not just become parents of their first child, Owen, 11 days earlier, he probably would have answered the phone on Feb. 10.

But the newly minted father was spending his time with Amber and Owen when he received a phone call from Quinn Capers, the associate dean for admissions at Ohio State’s College of Medicine. Amid an “unbelievable week” with his infant son, he didn’t notice the incoming phone call.

“I was riding that high,” Craft told Eleven Warriors on Thursday.

Craft, a former Buckeyes guard now playing professionally for Trento in Italy, had been expecting what could be a life-altering phone – but not that evening, a Sunday. He thought it was coming the next day.

Later that night, after Amber had put Owen to sleep, Craft looked at his phone and saw that Capers had left him a voicemail. Knowing what it could mean, he immediately listened to the message.

“I made a noise,” Craft said. “I screamed a little bit.”

...

If Craft preferred, he could have enrolled at Ohio State this fall, but he opted to play one more season before retiring, a decision that became public this week.

This summer, he told his teammates on Carmen's Crew, which won The Basketball Tournament, about his impending retirement. His current teammates on Trento have known, as have the team’s coach and general manager. Craft has known he’d hang it up at the end of this season for a while, but there’s still the mental and emotional hurdle of giving up the game he has played his whole life.

...

That said, it's still possible he's somehow involved with basketball in his second stint as a Buckeye. Even though coaching isn’t a career path he’s ever taken seriously, he says he’s open to helping Chris Holtmann and his staff, provided he can fit it into his jam-packed schedule.

“If coach (Thad) Matta was still there, probably a higher chance,” Craft said. “And I love coach Holtmann. They've welcomed us from the beginning, and he's done a phenomenal job. I would totally be down for it. If I can help them in any way, I would definitely do it. While at the same time, I understand the last time I was in the school, I had school and basketball and I did have my girlfriend then, but I do have other responsibilities now that are going to eat up time. I'm 100 percent down to help them in any way. Maybe I can jump in practices with them at times.”

...

There’s also the prospect of reuniting with Carmen's Crew for one last run.

Last year, he and a few fellow former Ohio State players claimed the $2 million prize by winning The Basketball Tournament. And though Craft plans to retire after his season with Trento, he didn't dismiss the idea of chasing a second TBT championship next summer.

“Columbus has been great, and potentially, at the end of the day, if my last basketball game could be with my brothers at Ohio State, that would be a pretty cool way to go out,” Craft said. “But I can't say yes or no at this point.”

...

“That's a mental wrestle that I have right now is how this season goes is how this legacy will go, and it's just a lie that I need to continue to fight against. So I don't know,” Craft said. “Probably, for worse, I'm going to be remembered as a guy that couldn't shoot very well. But hopefully it's about a guy that wanted to do everything he could to help a team be successful, that gave all he could every time he touched the floor, because honestly that's what I try to do. A guy that loved his teammates, that wanted to build them up and try to make them as successful as possible.

“That's what I strive for, that's what I have been striving for, and I've tried to do it the right way. That's all I can hope for, and hopefully I can ignore the negative aspects that will for sure come up because that's just how it goes.”

continued...
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SKULL SESSION: JAMESON WILLIAMS IS WAITING HIS TURN, DAWAND JONES IS SHEDDING WEIGHT, AND AARON CRAFT PREPARES FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL

DR. CRAFT. At this time next year, our favorite Rosey-Cheeked Assassin will be taking his clutchness back to the classroom, returning to medical school and stepping off the hardwood for good.

It's bittersweet, for sure, but it's not like being a doctor isn't something he's dreamed of doing all his life, too – long before basketball even became a reality.

For the entirety of his adult life, Aaron Craft has been blessed to live out one of his childhood dreams.

Now, before hitting age 30, the former Ohio State basketball star is in the midst of what will almost certainly be his final season on the hardwood.

Next summer, when his sixth professional season draws to a close, Craft will leave Trento, Italy, for the last time and return to his alma mater to officially begin medical school. Barring some sort of overwhelming financial offer from a top-tier team, Craft is playing what figures to be his last season as a pro.

“The greatest thing is I have an opportunity to chase two of the dreams that I had when I was a little kid before I turn 30, and not many people get to say that,” he told The Dispatch in a recent phone interview from Italy. “I didn’t want to miss the opportunity. It felt like this was the right moment. I’m comfortable with the decision stopping after this year, pending something crazy, which I don’t think is going to happen."

Craft hasn't totally ruled out one last ride with Carmen's Crew this summer, it's just going to depend on how his schedule shakes out.

So we may not have gritnessed our last of of Craft's court dives, after all.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...-shedding-weight-and-aaron-craft-prepares-for
 
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AARON CRAFT, 2013
Aaron Craft was always a player whose impact was felt by opponents much more than it showed up in the box score.

The defensive standout made games miserable for opposing point guards, and he anchored a surprisingly competitive Buckeye squad that had lost Sullinger to the NBA draft and William Buford to graduation the previous year.

Deshaun Thomas fueled the Ohio State offense, but Craft was the heartbeat of the 2013 team that won the tournament championship.

Craft posted eight points, seven assists and two steals in the conference opener against Nebraska, 20 points, nine assists and four steals in the semifinal against eighth-ranked Michigan State and nine points and six rebounds in the 50-43 win over Wisconsin in the conference championship.

His efforts landed him tournament MVP honors.
 
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SKULL SESSION: BUCKEYES' HYPOTHETICAL FINAL FOUR RUN, AN UPDATE FROM AARON CRAFT IN ITALY, AND WINTER/SPRING ATHLETES COULD GET MORE ELIGIBILITY

AARON CRAFT IS OKAY. You may not have even realized there was any reason for concern, but don't worry everybody, Aaron Craft is doing just fine.

Our beloved rosey-cheeked assassin is currently in Italy, which is not an extremely ideal place to be amidst the coronavirus outbreak, but our own Colin Hass-Hill reached out to him yesterday and we're happy to report that everything is good in his part of the boot.

"Things are good over here thanks," Craft told Eleven Warriors. "Daily life hasn’t changed drastically. No games or practice for a bit so just enjoying some family time."

It's a shame he's still almost a decade out from being Dr. Craft. We could sure use his grind about now.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...aron-craft-in-italy-and-winterspring-athletes
 
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SKULL SESSION: AARON CRAFT'S BASKETBALL CAREER WILL END IN COLUMBUS, OHIO STATE'S RECRUITING DOMINANCE VISUALIZED, AND DILLON DINGLER DOESN'T MIND HIS SECOND-ROUND SLIP

FULL CIRCLE. Aaron Craft's basketball career has a chance for the most storybook ending possible next month – winning a championship in Columbus with his former Ohio State teammates.



(As an aside – it's extremely Aaron Craft to *actually* go to medical school after playing pro basketball. There are plenty of college athletes that are "pre-med," but you know damn well they're never going to actually become doctors because of their professional careers. But Craft, he's genuine).

It's a shame there can't be fans in attendance to give the rosey-cheeked assassin a proper sendoff, but this would still be one hell of a way to ride off into the sunset.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...io-states-recruiting-dominance-visualized-and
 
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