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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2008
DREAMS (CONTINUED FROM 17)
valuable player Paul Pierce.
Typically, only potential lottery picks — those expected to be taken in the top 14 — are invited to attend the draft in person. Arthur and Rush may well be in that mix. Current draft projections list Arthur going anywhere from 10th to 18th and Rush between 13th and 25th. Chalmers, meanwhile, could be taken as high as No. 26 but could also slip to round two.
Kansas' most recent first round pick, Julian Wright, attended the draft last year and was taken 13th overall by the New Orleans Hornets. He said most NBA teams already knew their top draft choice before draft night. That decision is based, in part, on a player's individual workouts with specific teams, interviews with those close to the player and IQ tests.
Having played with all three of this year's early draft entrants at Kansas, Wright gave his assessment of their chances while at a KU summer basketball camp two weeks ago.
"Obviously, these workouts can do a little bit in terms of where they will fall." Wright said. "But I think they will all be in the first round."
If the three do get drafted in round one, the nervous energy should dissipate. Even the 30th and final pick in this year's first round has a pay scale guaranteeing him more than $1.5 million during the next two seasons.
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With so much riding on every first round selection, it's hard to believe
there was once a time when things were different — when the NBA draft came and went for the University's top professional prospects without them even knowing.
Bud Stallworth laughed at the mere thought of the draft being televised 36 years ago when he was selected in round one.
"It wasn't like that," said Stallworth, who works on campus as budget manager for Design and Construction Management at the University. "I'm serious. I know I wasn't watching TV if they had it on. The fanfare, I mean, it was nothing."
Stallworth is part of a small group of former Jayhawks six, to be exact taken in the NBA draft's first round before the made-for-TV specials began annually in the 1980s.
Before then, six- and seven-figure salaries were the exception and not the norm, and players hardly ever declared for the draft without first finishing college.
Guys like Stallworth sat around wondering if somebody might call them about a draft that had taken place sometime during that week. There was no draft night hub to convene at — in fact, the draft didn't even take place at night.
Stallworth was in his campus apartment when he received word from his agent that the Seattle Supersonics had taken him with the seventh pick in the 1972 NBA draft.
Unlike Walters or Wright, who met with team officials immediately. Stallworth didn't fly out until two
weeks after he was picked to meet with Seattle's owner and review contract details. He chose the Supersonics over the American Basketball Association's Denver Rockets, who drafted him at mid-year into their league.
For Jo Jo White, the news came at a college all-star game in Hawaii in 1969. At the time, White had to worry about two drafts — the NBA and the military. He said he actually received a two-year injunction into military service before the NBA draft, which scared some teams away from selecting him.
But Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach took care of that. He secured a six-month stay in the reserves for White instead of two years in the service. Boston then chose White with the ninth pick in the 1969 NBA draft, and Auerbach called to let him know.
Then, there's Walt Wesley's story.
The 6-foot-11 center was sitting in class atop Mount Oread when he was drafted in May 1966. He didn't find out until later that afternoon, after he headed for Allen Fieldhouse to play pick-up hoops with the team. KU coach Ted Owens told him the news: the Cincinnati Royals took him with the sixth pick of round one.
Wesley hadn't even heard from Cincinnati, but he called his parents to let them know. Not until weeks later, after he graduated from school, did he finally see the city and team that drafted him.
Spencer Research Library/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
JoJo White, left, last played at Kansas in 1969. White was the Boston Celtics' first round pick in 1969.
"It wasn't a big party." Wesley said. "We weren't all sitting around waiting. We didn't call everybody and say, 'Well the draft is taking place, we're going to sit and watch.' It's a different day, and a different era."
White cites NBA teams' desires to draft players on potential and not skill level.
Wesley says there is more pressure on the athletes to perform immediately.
Even Walters' draft experience seems slightly removed from the shoe deal and video game endorsement era that has become more prevalent among top picks.
Stallworth said the competition to get drafted now was tougher because of the influx of foreign-born players.
But for all the differences, one element of the draft remains the same all these years later. It's an element that Arthur, Rush and Chalmers, despite their angst, are just one day from finding out about.
"You've got to be happy man," Stallworth said. "That's human nature. All you've got to do is show up and practice and play for the rest of your life, and you're cool."
— Edited by Rustin Dodd
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
Former Kansas forward Darrell Arthur struggles for a tie-up against Colorado. Arthur, who left Kansas after his sophomore season, hopes to join former teammates Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft on Thursday in New York.
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
Former Kansas forward Darrell Arthur snags a rebound against Nebraska. After helping Kansas win the National Championship in April, most experts expect Arthur to be selected in the first round.
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