Rochester, N.Y. — Jim Boeheim isn't buying Malachi Richardson's rise through the mocks.

The longtime Syracuse head coach called out NBA Draft pundits for ranking Richardson as high as No. 13 after he left SU following his freshman year. Boeheim believes it's impossible for a player to have moved up teams' boards this early in the process as individual workouts haven't started yet.

"I don't think he's moved anywhere," Boeheim said at SU's no-huddle tour stop in Rochester. "That's just media nonsense. That's just the media and agents talking. Pro teams have not even had a thought about who they're going to draft. The top, maybe the top two or three prospective picks, are thinking about the two or three guys they might take.

"Everybody after that, they have no idea who they're going to pick. You can't tell anybody right now that they're going to go here because they haven't even thought about it."

Boeheim said he doesn't believe any freshman can truly be ready for the NBA, but spoke highly of Richardson as a person and praised him for his contributions to SU's Final Four run last season. He wasn't quite as polite with his comments toward the media, specifically one unnamed draft expert who he connected to predictions for former Orange players Tyler Ennis and Jerami Grant.

It's likely Boeheim was referring to Chad Ford, who has Richardson slotted 13th on his most recent Top 100 board.

"The guy that has moved him up is the same guy that had Tyler Ennis at 6-10, and we all know how that worked out," Boeheim said. "And he had Jerami Grant at 20, and we all know how that worked out. I guess when you have no track record, I guess that doesn't matter. I guess you still have credibility somehow."

Boeheim said he's connected to many NBA teams, having spoken with 20 individuals about Richardson over the last two months. He said he has an idea of where Richardson might go, but reiterated no one truly knows before workouts begin.

And even on draft night, anything can happen. Boeheim recalled former SU guard Sherman Douglas' drop to the second round in 1989. Boeheim said a team, possibly the Chicago Bulls, promised Douglas they would take him at No. 13 before trading the pick and watching Douglas slide to No. 28.

(For the record, the Boston Celtics held the No. 13 pick in that draft and did not trade it. Chicago drafted sixth, 18th and 20th.)

"Where (Richardson is) going to go in the draft, trust me, nobody has a clue right now," Boeheim said.

Boeheim believes most players projected to go between Nos. 22 and 30 should return to school if there's potential for upward mobility. Winning teams draft late in the order and often stash picks in the NBA Development League or overseas.

Players drafted earlier than that are more likely to be needed immediately, Boeheim said. And those in the lottery almost have to be played due to pressure in management and the coaching staff.

"In the last few years, 15 to 30 picks, about 60 percent of those players end up in the D-League," Boeheim said. "Nobody realizes that."

Richardson will have to wait until June 23 to find out exactly where he'll be selected. Until then, expect Boeheim to keep speaking his mind.

"Of course, whenever I say these things, people say I'm too tough, too abrasive," Boeheim said. "It's like, media people can have their opinions and it's OK. But when a coach has his opinions, it's not good; he shouldn't do that. I've never followed that procedure exactly."

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