Congratulations To Dr. Aaron Craft On Graduating From Medical School This Weekend

Talk about a blast from the past. How many big name athletes have ever done this? And I'm not talking about going back and graduating. I'm talking about ending a professional career, although overseas and the D-League, early to come back and start / finish Medical School. Aaron Craft could live comfortably in Columbus for the rest of his life off appearances and autograph signings alone, or even make some big money getting into the media. But instead he went back to Medical School, spent 4 years in that grueling process, and has now graduated and is Aaron Craft, MD. And while it's very cool that Aaron stuck with his goals and has officially become a Doctor, this is also a reminder to me of how damn long it takes to become one. This dude still has 5 more years of residency to complete. He's going to be damn near 40 when he's out on his own. 

I can't believe how long ago it was that he played for the Buckeyes. People always say things like "it feels like just yesterday that _________". Not in this case. It literally feels like a million years ago that Aaron Craft was diving out of bounds on the court:

Going into the crowd to save balls:

Tying people up on what should be wide open layups:

And simply out hustling and out-smarting players that were more physically gifted than him:

Man, this guy was my favorite ever to do it. And I'm sure people outside of Ohio hated him, because he was a typical you love to have him on your team but hate him if he's on the other type of player. Hard-working, hustling, smart, and just an absolute pest. I wonder what type of money Aaron Craft would've pulled in if NIL was a thing back when he played? I'm thinking it would be HIGH.

…and it would all be by the books, too. Some people forget that Aaron Craft was actually committed to Tennessee before he realized he broke a recruiting violation by going to Bruce Pearl's house back during his junior year.

Pearl lied about it and Aaron Craft told the truth! That's Aaron Craft to a tee.

I simply cannot believe that this guy, who was the pride of Ohio for 4 years, is now about to be the Doctor in a white coat when patients enter the office.  I wish he were just a general doctor that you could go see if you had a cold or an ache, but I'd imagine that waitlist would be months long in Columbus just to meet the guy. Probably best that he's specializing in the surgical treatment of the head and neck.

Congratulations, Dr. Craft.