Ryan Cline could have played summer league for the Golden State Warriors, or maybe a different team, with a chance to get an opportunity in the NBA. As many as a half dozen franchises were interested in working him out, he said.
Worst case, the departed Boilermaker senior could have fallen back on the sort of lucrative professional playing career overseas that his senior season at Purdue seems to set him up for.
Instead, he's walking away from the game altogether, and seems to be at peace with a decision he calls a "mature" one.
"It was very tough, a very difficult choice," Cline said. "I love the game of basketball, had so much fun playing and it's done wonders for me, and it's very hard to hang 'em up. But I just thought my body was wearing down, and I didn't want to do it for four, five, six years, then come back and be behind. I just thought this would be a good move to get out in front of everything.
""But (basketball) was basically my entire life, and obviously I'm going to miss it like crazy."
So, his decision final, he says, Cline will spend the next few weeks looking for his entry into the domestic workforce, preferably in sales, citing the medical industry as a potential starting point.
"I just didn't think I wanted to go overseas, that it would be too big a change for me," Cline said, "and that it would be a good time to enter the real world, while my name's still kind of out there, especially in the Midwest, where I'd like to work if I can."
One of the finest shooters in Purdue's basketball history and one of the driving forces behind the Boilermakers' memorable season, Cline's next jump shot will be made in a recreational setting.
"The Y has no idea what they're in for," he joked.
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