Bracey Wright is leading Indiana in scoring. He's having as much, if not more impact, than any other freshman in the Class of 2002.

All of which means he's not ready for the NBA. At least, not yet.

Scouting Reports

The NBA draft is about potential and a survey of NBA scouts over the past month produced an interesting top 10. Here is whom the NBA is checking out as potential draft picks out of this class: 1. Christian Drejer, Florida: He hasn't played a minute of the regular season because of injuries, but scouts saw him in Denmark. They swear by his potential as a lead guard. They don't care if he doesn't play at all this season. He would still be a high pick. 2. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse: He would have been a first-round pick had he declared out of high school. His scoring ability keeps him high on scouts' lists. He's got the body to come into the NBA and produce within the next two years. 3. Chris Bosh, Georgia Tech: He's big and that alone gets him noticed. Bosh is a shot-blocker, defensive pest and a mid-range shooter. He's not too strong, yet. But scouts would take him high if he made himself available. 4. Antoine Wright, Texas A&M: Scouts were in love with his offensive game during USA Basketball trials last summer. He was a standout scorer then and is projected to be at the NBA level. He's a first-round pick if he leaves early. 5. Evan Burns, San Diego State: He wasn't eligible until the Arizona game on Dec. 7, but that didn't hurt his stock too much. Burns was a potential first-round, likely second-round pick, had he jumped out of high school. He hasn't done much lately but his potential as a slashing scorer keeps him high on lists. 6. Hassan Adams, Arizona: He's quick, he can already defend and he can score from just about anywhere on the floor. He has to improve his ballhandling, but scouts are fond of his overall presence on the court. 7. Raymond Felton, North Carolina: Finding a true point guard is never easy. Felton is probably the best in his class this season. He's jet quick, has a nasty first-step and has the court savvy to make his teammates better. 8. Shavlik Randolph, Duke: He's not putting up major numbers, but he's still a 6-10 shooting big man. NBA teams fawn over players who can pass, shoot and dribble and still be the tallest player on the court. 9. Rashad McCants, North Carolina: He's a big-time scorer and that alone is going to get him a long look. Scouts aren't shy about taking notes about his potential. He has to avoid being forced to play the NBA point. He's a shooting guard at all levels. 10. Paul Davis, Michigan State: He hasn't logged enough quality minutes to make any list of top 10 freshmen now. But Davis has an NBA-type game. He can step out and make the 3-pointer or mid-range jumper as well as be physical and bang in the post.

Wright understands this and knows he needs to be patient. The same can't be said for every freshman or those around these perceived phenoms. The early success of the freshmen so far in the 2002-03 season is creating a myth that these players are ready to make the jump.

Ah, but putting up numbers for a top 25 team doesn't mean squat to NBA scouts, or for that matter, NBA general managers or coaches. All it does, unfortunately, is give the players a false perception about whether they're ready for the league. Compare the impact this season of Wright and Florida's Christian Drejer. The debate ends here. Drejer hasn't even played a single college game due to injury, but NBA scouts would take Drejer over Wright in a second based on the Danish guard's potential more than Wright's results.

But as sure as the changing seasons, it won't stop some freshmen from declaring early for the NBA Draft in the spring because they may have had an all-conference season. Sure, some might have been talented enough to do what they're doing for teams, regardless of who may have remained in college instead of declaring themselves for the past two drafts. But the majority of these freshmen might be putting up numbers because there is no one else at their position and they're getting a chance to shine before their time.

"A lot of freshmen are going to start thinking about (the NBA) more because they're scoring and doing good right now," said Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony, who is leading the Orangemen in scoring and is a likely one-and-done candidate. "But there's a lot more than that to play in the NBA."

The biggest question for the impact freshmen this spring will be: do they care about being drafted in the first round or do they want longevity in the league?

Getting drafted usually isn't the issue. Playing and staying is. The draft is about potential. Playing in the league is about talent and experience.

"A lot of players went pro, so somebody has to be the best two guard in college, or in his class. But that doesn't mean he's a going to be a good pro," North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said. "But the NBA has to draft you and that's where kids can make bad decisions. They'll get more concerned about being a top-15 pick in the draft rather than whether or not they can play in the NBA."

Wright would probably be selected in the upcoming draft, but that doesn't mean he would stick with the team. In the case of Drejer, meanwhile, teams would probably be patient longer because he's a foreigner and they term his "upside" as worth waiting. "That's a perfect point," Duke junior guard Chris Duhon said. "Bracey is doing well at Indiana -- and I'm not saying anything bad about Indiana's program -- but that's not the NBA. He's not playing with or against NBA players. He's a good player, but it's not even one year. He needs to know the competition he's going against." "A lot of kids think they can just put up big numbers as freshmen and that's the ticket to go," added Duhon. "The sad thing is that the players get bad advice and then you never hear from them again. They need to hear the advice to get their games better."

Anthony was already a "name" among NBA scouts out of Oak Hill Academy (Va.). He could have been a first-round pick this past June. But that doesn't mean he would have been successful. Being able to score in major college basketball, rebound and play some defense will prove to be invaluable even if it's just for one season.

But even if these freshmen know deep down they aren't ready, they'll have to guard against their family and so-called friends telling them they should go simply because they put up numbers in their first year in school.

"(All the numbers) can give you a false sense of how good you are, especially when people are telling you that," Georgia Tech freshman Chris Bosh said. "If you learn the game of basketball, then you'll be fine. You can only go so far with just talent."

Illinois coach Bill Self is watching his freshman guard Dee Brown gain confidence with each performance against a quality team. But that doesn't mean Brown is one step closer to the league. There is something to be said for being a good college player versus an automatic pro.

"The stats are inflated based on the competition," Self said. "These guys definitely get a false sense of who they are. It helps their confidence to do well early, but the stats aren't what's important."

Some programs, like Arizona, seem to create even more of a false perception. If you do well with the Wildcats, the assumption is that you're ready for the league after one year. That's why the Wildcats are already getting nervous about a buzz around freshman Hassan Adams.

"Go ask 200 kids what they want to do and it's the NBA, and they don't want to wait 15 minutes," Arizona associate head coach Jim Rosborough said. "We've got a youngster (Adams) that is playing well right now, but now everybody is worried about him going. It's hard to get comfortable coaching in college when the lure to leave just because someone is playing well is really strong. It's terrible."

But coaches like Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt and Texas A&M's Melvin Watkins aren't going to fight the NBA lure when it comes to Bosh or fellow frosh Antoine Wright, respectively. They're banking on their guys being educated on the subject before they make a rash decision about leaving early.

"There's no question that it's a fear that if these freshmen play well, they'll leave. But we've got to stop acting like it's a negative," Hewitt said. "If someone leaves then everyone is afraid to talk about.'"

Watkins said having players who want to leave isn't all bad.

"You want your program to be at a point where you've got players (talented) like that," Watkins said. "We've got NBA guys coming to practice and I allow that. They're at most games we play. But that's where we are.

"The mentality is to get to the NBA because of all the money being dangled out there. The days of telling a kid he can come to your school and get his jersey retired and becoming the career leading scorer have passed. These players don't think like that anymore."

Hopefully, however, these freshmen will think twice before being their school's latest "one-and-done" memory.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.