July 10, 2000

Tyson Chandler put all the rumors to rest with a laugh and a smile.

"Naah," said Chandler, who told a group of writers at the Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis, Ind., that he never thought about forgoing his senior year of high school and entering this past June's NBA draft.

Now a 7-foot senior-to-be at Dominguez High in Compton, Calif., Chandler is in position to be the first player selected in the 2001 draft should he choose to bypass college - something that looks increasingly more likely by the day.

"If I'm a lottery pick, [going pro will] be kind of hard to pass up," said Chandler, who announced that the University of Memphis is his top college choice thus far, over Syracuse, Michigan, UCLA and Arizona, if he were to go the NCAA route. "That's a dream of mine, to play in the NBA.

"There's not really a doubt in my mind [that I'll be a lottery pick]. But you never know."

Chris Monter, editor of Monter Draft News, said he envisions Chandler or fellow high school senior Eddy Curry (Thornwood High, Ill.) being the first player drafted next June. If either goes No. 1, it will mark the first time a high school player was the top pick in the NBA draft. Prep phenom Darius Miles, of East St. Louis High (Ill.), was selected third overall by the Los Angeles Clippers this year.

"I think you can see it," said Monter. "If you did the '95 draft all over again, (Kevin) Garnett would be the No. 1 pick. Same with the '96 - (Kobe) Bryant would be the top pick. More teams are willing and accepting of taking a high school kid. I think if you ask them they would say, 'Hey, we prefer not to draft one.' But heck, you look at those 12 teams that passed on Kobe Bryant, I'm sure they're thinking, 'Geez, what were we thinking?'"

Coach be gone
The big talk among campers this past weekend was what to do should you sign with a college only to have that school's coach leave to pursue a job elsewhere. Pike High (Indianapolis, Ind.) point guard Chris Thomas, who has committed to Notre Dame, has been following the rumors about Irish coach Matt Doherty leaving South Bend to coach at North Carolina.

"I wasn't surprised with North Carolina coming after Coach Doherty," said Thomas. "He's a great coach, the top in the country, so who wouldn't want him to be coach? I don't know if he will [take the job] or not. I hope he won't. I would be surprised if he left. My status would obviously change [if he left]. I'd have to wait and see who the (new) coach was."

Pro show
Along with the more than 300 college coaches in attendance in Indianapolis - including Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, UCLA's Steve Lavin and Kentucky's Tubby Smith - was a handful of NBA scouts. Among the NBA teams represented at the camp were the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards.

Late entry
Seattle high school basketball star Will Conroy, one of the last players to be invited to the camp, put on an impressive performance in Friday night's controlled scrimmage, notching five steals and putting on a dribbling display at point guard.

Conroy was invited to the camp early last week after recent Chicago Bulls draftee Jamal Crawford (formerly of Michigan), a high school friend of Conroy's, phoned Michigan talent scout Vince Baldwin to see if the camp had any room. The camp's player selection board, of which Baldwin is a member, found room for Conroy.

Foreign Exchange
American high school players weren't the only ones to shine at Nike. Several foreign players attended the six-day camp as well, including Brazil's Marcello Da Barrosa, Latvia's Kristaps Valters, Denmark's Thomas Soltau and Canada's Terry Licorish. The 6-foot-7 Licorish, who has the wingspan of someone 7-foot-4, was the most impressive of the bunch.