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If you took all of the top NBA draft prospects and asked them the question that Jared Dudley was asked on Saturday, you could pretty much predict all of their responses … except for Dudley's.
During his entire basketball career, Dudley has relied on his unpredictability.
Coming out of high school, scouts said he was unathletic, too overweight to play at a major Division I-level school.
Dudley proved them wrong, soaring up depth charts with his performances late in the recruiting game, and earning a scholarship to Boston College.
The unpredictable essence of how the 6-7, 225-pound small forward plays - lulling taller, more athletic players into leaning just the wrong way before plowing up, under, over, or around for a layup - how Dudley became one of the best players in the history of BC men's basketball and why he is The Heights' Male Athlete of the Year.
When Dudley dropped by the WZBC press box to do some color commentary, in the middle of the second quarter of the Annual Jay McGillis Spring football game, he was asked by one of the student broadcasters, "Where would you like to play next season?"
The stock response for this question is, "Well, I'll play for any team that wants to have me, a team that I can contribute to right away,"
Yet Dudley answered candidly, "A team that can win right away, like the San Antonio Spurs or the Los Angeles Lakers."
When asked the same question again, the Californian listed more teams, most of them closer to his home in San Diego than Boston.
"Any team that needs a small forward in a winning organization - Utah, Houston, Detroit, any team that needs me," said Dudley.
Being "needed" was not a problem for Dudley at BC this season.
While the senior knew he would be the main scoring option, there was no way of predicting how much Dudley would have to carry the Eagles in order for them to be an NCAA-caliber team again.
With the dismissal of Sean Williams, just as the junior center was rounding into a complete player, and Akida McLain, Dudley had to assume more scoring and leadership responsibilities to keep the team together, all while being hampered by a stress fracture in his foot.
While Williams and Dudley enter the NBA draft this year as potential first-round picks, Williams' antics are not far from Dudley's memory, nor is the burden that the center's loss put on the senior looking to end his career on a positive note, with an extended run in the NCAA Tournament.
"He's his own man. What he does is what he does. I haven't talked about [the draft] with him at all," said Dudley.
Behind Dudley's memorable efforts - 30 points against Virginia Tech, 23 points, including a four-point play in the final minute against Florida State, and 23 points against Clemson on Senior Day - the Eagles got themselves a bid to the NCAA Tournament, and gave Final Four-bound Georgetown a run for their money in the second round before bowing out graciously, 62-55, to the Hoyas.
Just over a month later, Dudley finds himself in transition between two worlds: the comfort of BC, and the new, exciting, unpredictable world of the NBA.
"I've been working out, getting ready for the draft. For one, I started working out with the new basketball they have. I've been doing different drills, shooting, conditioning. Basically, since we finished playing … it's been a little hectic lately," said Dudley.
Yet for someone who thrives on unpredictability, on and off the court, the NBA represents an exciting new opportunity, in a new city, with a new group of teammates.
Though there is a chance that Dudley could be reunited with his former teammate Craig Smith in Minnesota, he knows he will be comfortable with or without familiar faces.
"Even if I don't know anyone it'll be a dream come true just to make it," said Dudley.
From Dudley, that was an unusually predictable response.
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