Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Best in Class
By by Andy Katz
Used to be that you only had to scout the college ranks to draft wisely. (Used to be you could make money in the stock market, too.) Now you're finding ROYs in Spain and the next T-Mac in jucoland. Want to know where your team's looking? Everywhere.
Next up for Jay, handling Craig Sager's softball questions.
UPPERCLASSMEN
JAY WILLIAMS Jr. PG Duke
Forget the missed free throw against Indiana. (The NBA has.) He will take -- and make -- the big shot. MIKE DUNLEAVY Jr. SF Duke Has the skills, but needs the muscle to make Bird comparisons realistic. CURTIS BORCHARDT Jr. C Stanford
Seven-foot shotblocker whose rebounding and O need work. MARCUS HAISLIP Jr. F Tennessee Two inches shorter than Borchardt, with same pros and cons. DREW GOODEN Jr. PF Kansas His musical ability is like his basketball potential ... (more)
UNDERCLASSMEN
CARON BUTLER So. SF Connecticut Big-time scorer who plays D, too. CHRIS WILCOX So. PF Maryland Talk about upside -- went from sixth man to lottery in one season. DAJUAN WAGNER Fr. PG/SG Memphis Simply the most prolific scorer in this year's draft. JARED JEFFRIES So. SF Indiana Good at everything, but not great at anything. SMUSH PARKER So. PG Fordham One year of high school ball in Queens ... (more)
FOREIGNERS
YAO MING C China One more time: You can't teach height. NIKOLOZ TSKITISHVILI C/F Georgia You'd never heard of Pau Gasol, either. JIRI WELSCH PG/SG Czech Republic Big (6'6"), tough and loves to run. BOSTJAN NACHBAR SF Slovenia Scouts are calling him another Hedo Turkoglu. MAYBYNER HILARIO PF Brazil He was 12 years old and playing his first-ever organized basketball game ... (more)
JUNIOR COLLEGE
QYNTEL WOODS SG/SF Northeast Mississippi JC "Next T-Mac" talk hype or real? One lottery team will find out. KEI MADISON SF Okaloosa-Walton CC (Fla.) Scouts questioning work ethic after late-season boot from team. LEE BENSON PF Brown Mackie CC (Kan.) Scouts say Benson will be drafted in the high 20s ... (more)
HIGH SCHOOL
AMARE STOUDEMIRE PF Cypress Creek (FlA.) At 6'10", 240, the perfect body for a team with a lot of patience. LENNY COOKE SG Old Tappan (N.J.) He'd be at St. John's if he'd made grades. Instead, he'll go second round. DeANGELO COLLINS F Inglewood (Calif.) In any draft, the younger the player, the higher the risk ... (more)
