Terry Rozier and his NBA draft thought process

SEATTLE -- I stood by Terry Rozier's locker on Thursday for most of the Louisville locker-room availability at KeyArena. He answered quite a few repeat questions as radio hosts and other guys came and went.

Yes, he has played against huge players like UC-Irvine's 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, though no one quite that large. Yes, he has talked to the freshmen on the team about what the NCAA tournament is like. Yes, Louisville wanted to get away -- far away -- for the NCAA tournament.

But eventually the topic shifted to Montrezl Harrell, and I wanted to ask Rozier how Louisville's 6-foot-8 forward has improved this season after deciding to return to school instead of entering last year's NBA draft.

Related:Harrell has no regrets in returning to U of L

It was loud in the locker room, so there's a chance Rozier didn't fully hear me. I asked him, "I'm doing a story on Montrezl and kind of looking back -- and I know you'll be doing the same thing here the next few weeks -- but his decision to come back ... Obviously the context will be different with you and your mom and what you guys are trying to figure out and him and his family. Everybody's different. But when you look back on a guy's decision, what's the fairest way to evaluate if it was the right call?"

His answer drifted toward something a lot more salient on the minds of Louisville fans: How he will make his NBA draft decision after this season.

"It's all about what that person wants," Rozier said. "I don't feel that it's exactly for his family. Yeah, his family can be struggling, but there's a lot of families out here struggling. I think that person in particular making that decision -- if you want to come or you want to leave -- you look yourself in the mirror and you ask yourself, 'Are you really ready to be at the next level, to actually compete? Or do you want to be in the D-league?'

"If you want to help your family and you don't make it -- like, say you get picked second round or things like that -- you can't really help your family like you really want to. I don't think it really comes down to family. People can make stories and say it's -- it's easier for them to say that he's doing it for his family, but I feel that, when the season is over, whether we win, lose or draw, I have to look myself in the mirror and ask myself. You get a lot of good sources from people, like (Pitino) -- he's like a father to me. So I look at myself in the mirror and ask myself, 'Am I really ready for the next level?'"