Semi Ojeleye On Larry Brown’s Departure: “Surreal”

When Semi Ojeleye left Duke for SMU, we said this: “That's a calculated risk, which, being from Kansas, we're sure he knows: Larry Brown is a big fan of short-term commitments. He's a brilliant teacher of the game, but he's a mercenary. Working in Ojeley's favor: Brown hasn't drawn as much interest lately.“

As it turned out, even that couldn’t keep Restless Larry in Dallas and he’s now considering coaching high school ball.

And how did Ojeleye react to Brown’s departure?

"It was surreal," Ojeleye told the Dallas News. "I was thinking, 'This cannot be happening,' but it was real. You kind of just had to pick up the pieces. The shock was that it was so sudden. It was out of nowhere. I didn't see it coming."

In fairness, Ojeleye is still quite young and probably wasn’t completely familiar with Brown’s M.O. Still, it was there for any bright person - and Ojeleye is unquestionably intelligent - to pick up on.

As Art Heyman memorably said of his old friend, “Larry’s only happy when he’s unhappy.”