Virginia Basketball's Justin Anderson Not Ready for NBA

After an injury-plagued junior season, Justin Anderson has decided to leave the Virginia Cavaliers for the NBA.

Anderson missed a total of eight games during the recently-completed season. He broke a finger against the Louisville Cardinals in February and was set to return in early March before undergoing an emergency appendectomy, which cost him more time away from the court.

When he went down with the first injury, Anderson was playing fairly well, leading the offensively-challenged Cavaliers in scoring. However, he was clearly not the same player when he returned, and he finished the season averaging just 12.2 points and four rebounds per game.

No one can blame Anderson for wanting to move on, especially after the way his, and his team’s, season unfolded. The Cavaliers appeared to be a Final Four contender before crumbling down the stretch. At least some of the blame for their poor play late can be directly attributed to Anderson’s absence.

That being said, Anderson is making a big mistake by going pro at this time. Teams will question his health and his durability in addition to dissecting his game from top to bottom. Anderson may still be a late first round pick in this year’s draft, but his stock could have soared for next season’s draft if he had returned to Virginia and had a big year for Tony Bennett and his team, who are likely to be in the mix for the ACC title again next season.

But instead, another late first/early second round selection is giving up his college eligibility to chase his dream. And you really can’t blame Anderson for that.

Tim Letcher is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.