The 41 college basketball players at last week’s Nike Desert Classic sometimes resembled a herd of cattle.
The NBA prospects were poked and prodded, tested and examined by pro scouts and trainers to see if they are prime cut or discardable gristle.
“It’s kind of like you are a piece of meat, but that’s fine. If am a good piece of meat, it means I’ll get a good job,” KU senior center Eric Chenowith said Sunday after returning from Tempe, Ariz., site of last week’s five-day Classic.
“It was funny that the Kentucky Derby was going on at the same time, because it’s like you are a thoroughbred,” noted Chenowith, who scored 26 points in three camp games.
“They weighed us and measured us all that stuff. They do it because numbers and stats don’t lie.”
Chenowith and teammate Kenny Gregory put up some impressive numbers in the desert. Chenowith, who was listed at 7-foot-1, 270 pounds at Kansas, was measured at 7-01/2, 263 pounds, with a 7-foot-7 wing span and 29-inch vertical jump.
Gregory, who was listed 6-5, 208 at KU, grew to 6-63/4, 201 pounds with a 6-101/2 wingspan.
“They measured us without shoes on. I don’t know how that happened, but I’ll take it,” grinned Gregory, whose vertical jump was measured at 391/2 inches.
Gregory scored 33 points in the three camp games, including a high of 17 in one game. His team, coached by former Kansas City Kings guard Tiny Archibald, won one game and lost two. Chenowith’s team, coached by ex-Celitcs coach Rick Carlysle, went 2-1.
“Throughout the week in shooting drills and things like that, I think I proved to people I can shoot the basketball maybe better than I have in the past,” said Gregory. “I think I did some great things. I showed my athletic ability in the open floor, creating my own shots.”
One observer said Gregory was “electric” in the first camp game, when he hit eight of 14 shots.
“In the first game I had a couple of dunks and in drills a couple of dunks,” said Gregory, who, like Chenowith, was not named to the seven-person all-tourney team. USC’s Jeff Trapagnier was camp MVP.
“I had some nice athletic moves to the basket. I guess I caught somebody’s attention.”
Chenowith hit five of seven shots in one game and five of eight in another.
“A lot of big guys had a tough time guarding me on the block,” Chenowith said. “I didn’t miss an open shot. I made some good moves down low. I played strong, ran the floor hard and rebounded well. I think this helped me.”
Both Chenowith and Gregory will be working out individually for several NBA teams in coming weeks. They also likely will attend the Chicago draft camp in early June. The actual draft is June 27 in New York.
NBA scout Mark Randall, a former Kansas player, told the Journal-World both players are late first-round, to middle second-round possibilities. What could hurt the Jayhawk duo is the fact a whopping 28 underclassmen and high schoolers have applied for the draft.
“Those guys are going to get drafted. You have to expect it,” Chenowith said. “It doesn’t bother me. If guys want to come out early, that’s what they are going to do. A bunch of teams have contacted my agent so I’m hopeful I’ll achieve my dream of playing in the NBA.”
“Some of the scouts’ mindsets is if you have a younger guy coming out … they figure they can wait on them to develop a little longer than a senior,” Gregory said. “Each year, more underclassmen are going into the draft.
“I felt it was best for me to stay in college four years. For an Eddy Curry (7-foot high school senior who has declared for NBA), a guy like that would be stupid going to college, I think. Different things for different people.”
The prospects who played in Tempe have no guarantees. They were all playing for possible million dollar contracts last week and the competition showed.
“It got very physical,” Chenowith said. “Kimani Ffriend (Nebraska forward/center) was playing kinda dirty. He and Kaspars Kambala (UCLA) got into it. The refs asked the coaches to sub for them in the last minute of one game. I got a scratch on the lip from Kimani. He was playing tough out there.
“You’ve got to expect it going in a situation like that. Minutes were hard to get. They had to divvy up all the time.”
Gregory agreed about the competitive nature of the draft camp.
“It reminded me of Nike camp in high school,” Gregory said. “They talk about a team game, but everybody is going out for themselves. It’s not a team game in that situation. Everybody’s trying to show what they can do in a short period of time.
“You have to roll with the punches. You never know when you are going to get the ball.”
