Eric Chenowith has a recurring dream that goes something like this:
“We make the Final Four. We win the national championship for coach Williams,” says Chenowith, Kansas University’s 7-foot-1 senior center from Villa Park, Calif.
And then to cap it all off, he’s tapped in the NBA Draft lottery.
His subconscious drifts to team goals first:
“When I came here my goal was to win a national championship. That’s still my goal,” Chenowith said. “I want it for myself, my teammates and especially coach (Roy) Wil-liams. I just feel he deserves one as hard as he works and as good a coach as he is.
“Plus I still have a deal with (national talk-show host) Jim Rome. If we go to the Final Four, he has to have a ‘tour stop’ (show) in Kansas City. It would be fun to make him follow through on that.”
As far as the NBA thing, Chenowith is fully aware pro teams are always looking for 7-footers who can shoot.
“I just have a great chance to be a lottery pick. I can’t let that slip by,” Chenowith said. “A lot of people talked about me being a lottery pick last year. I kind of messed that up.”
Yet he ran into some NBA scouts at various camps last summer and they reiterated the potential is there for Chenowith to thrive on the pro level.
“Seven-foot-one guys are hard to find,” he said, “especially ones that come out of a system like Kansas where you learn how to play the game of basketball the right way.
“The love my shooting touch. They love the fact I can block shots. The sky is the limit. If my hard work of the summer pays off, yes I could be a lottery pick. That’s just logic.”
Chenowith was a man possessed last summer, working so hard he erased memories of his sub-par junior season. he averaged 8.6 points and 5.6 boards after registering 13.5 points and 9.1 boards as a sophomore.
“When you put in the time like I did this past summer, it gives you a lot of confidence,” Chenowith said. “It was all work, no play.”
Chenowith’s off season started with organized practices at KU.
The Jayhawks didn’t take any time off following a loss to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. NCAA rules allow teams to keep practicing until after the Final Four and the Jayhawks took advantage of those rules.
“We practiced hard,” Chen-owith said, “and I didn’t stop from the time I got off the plane in May (in California) until the time I returned from the Pete Newell camp (in August). I worked hard, very hard.”
During late May and early June, Chenowith ran drills six days a week with his old high school coach Kevin Reynolds and current members of Villa Park High’s basketball team.
Former NBA center Bob Thornton held private workouts with Chenowith three days a week.
Thornton is 6-10, 275 pounds. “He showed me a lot of new stuff. He is a crafty kind of old guy who knows all the tricks,” Chenowith said. “He played with Rick Mahorn a while. Rick Mahorn is legendary of having little tricks in the post. He taught me how to read a defender on your back. If he’s on the left side, go right. If he’s pushing you down low, shoot over him. Small things like that. Repetition helps.”
In late June, Chenowith spent two weeks in Lawrence working as a counselor at Roy Williams’ basketball camp. Chenowith lifted weights each day and played pick-up games with the Jayhawks at night.
In July, back home in California, Chenowith worked out from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. five days a week under the direction of Portand Trail Blazers assistant coach Tim Grgurich. Stanford’s Adam Keefe and Utah’s Chris Burgess also took part in the drills. The trio scrimmaged against several Portland Trail Blazers’ summer league players including rookie Erick Barkley from 10 a.m. until noon.
Chenowith relaxed during the day then lifted weights from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. four nights a week at Villa Park High.
On July weekends, Chen-owith played in the 20-team “Say No” college basketball league in Los Angeles. Playing for Team Hollywood, along with UCLA’s Ryan Bailey and Rico Hines, Chenowith averaged 22 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks per game.
NBA rules were used in the league, which consisted mostly of California college players.
In August, Chenowith spent the first seven days of the month at Grgurich’s Big Man Camp in Las Vegas. Workouts were held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. with scrimmages from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Forty players and 25 NBA scouts attended.
Other notable players included UCLA’s Dan Gad-zuric, USC’s Brian Scalabrine and Fresno State’s Melvin Ely.
“Those were good workouts. NBA scouts were coaching our teams,” Chenowith said. “They’d run drills for us. A scout would come up and say, ‘Eric I don’t think you are doing this very good.’ Then I’d do it again for him. It was a good experience.”
Then came the Newell camp in which Chenowith practiced daily against 50 college and 40 NBA big men.
“The best thing about it is going against players that size,” Chenowith said. “It was very helpful.”
Chenowith worked hard during a summer of discontent.
One of Chenowith’s good buddies former Villa Park High classmate Ryan Ferguson died suddenly on June 25. In August, Chenowith’s mom, Janey, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s expected to make a full recovery.
“I’d rather have the pain inflicted on me than her,” Chenowith said. “I don’t think I needed something like this in my life. But I definitely think it’s made me a better person. It’s made me appreciate life a lot more.”
And made last year’s struggles seem unimportant.
“It ticked me off. I was mad the whole time. I was embarrassed at some things that were going on,” Chenowith said. “It motivated me more than anything else. I didn’t want to leave any questions. You can’t put a question mark next to my name any more. I’ve proven how hard I worked over the summer. Every single opportunity I’ve had I’ve taken advantage of.”
How it will translate to the court remains to be seen.
“I can’t wait,” Chenowith said. “I think we can have a great season.”
