Rick Rickert has spent countless hours thinking about the decision he had before him as a senior at Duluth East High School.

Go to Arizona and play in a conference where being offensively sound is a requirement or go to the University of Minnesota and play in a conference where strength and defense is a must?

Rickert took the second choice, and now ? staring at a first professional season in Europe ? the former McDonald's High School All-American is wondering what went wrong and what he has to do to lose the "bust" label given to him just hours after being selected by the Timberwolves in the NBA draft in June.

It might be too late for the 6-foot-11 forward with the soft shooting touch.

Almost every major NCAA Division I school flooded Rickert's mailbox with recruiting letters. He gave an oral commitment to the University of Arizona, a school known for producing NBA players, only to change his mind and commit to his home-state Gophers. He went from possibly being a lottery pick after his freshman season to falling off the radar screen and, finally, being the fourth-to-last player selected in the draft.

"Honestly, I can't tell you what happened," Rickert said this week. "I've spent a lot of time recently thinking about if I should have gone to Arizona after high school. Arizona is an offensive team and fit my style more.

"I can say the Big Ten wasn't for me; it was more of a physical, bang league, which wasn't the way I played. I looked at it as I wanted to get better in those areas. I did all right."

All right doesn't cut it in the NBA. All right earned Rickert a plane ticket without a return date to play in Europe when he should be getting ready for his junior season with the Gophers.