New York ? For the last seven years, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich have traveled the same path. Tonight, they’ll take one final step together.
It’s a big one.
“There’s not many Iowa guys in the league, period,” Hinrich said at a news conference Wednesday at a Times Square hotel. “To have two guys make it in the same year is a pretty special deal.”
The Kansas University All-Americans, who led the Jayhawks to consecutive Final Fours as juniors and seniors, are projected as lottery picks in tonight’s NBA draft at Madison Square Garden.
Collison, of Iowa Falls, and Sioux City’s Hinrich first became teammates following their sophomore years in high school on an AAU traveling team. They played together four more years at KU.
“We’ve been real close, and we’ve been good friends,” Collison said. “We’ve been through a lot of the same things. Now we’re getting drafted, and we’ll go our separate ways. We’ll still keep in touch a lot. It’ll be good to have another friend in the league.”
Four teams — Detroit, Seattle, Memphis and Boston — have two first-round picks tonight, but it’s unlikely Collison and Hinrich will end up in the same NBA city.
Where they will end up is less certain.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of things, so I don’t know,” said Hinrich, a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 17.3 points per game as a senior. “There’s so much speculation. You just have to wait and see. Anything could happen.”
Hinrich worked out for Seattle, Golden State, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Washington and Miami. One popular theory has him going to the Bucks, who have the No. 8 pick.
“I had a really good workout,” he said of Milwaukee. “Obviously, they tell you they’re really interested. There’s a lot of things they’re saying. Sometimes they’re not always true. I could play in Milwaukee. I’m confident wherever I go. I’m adjustable and coachable. I’ll just go in there and make the situation turn out all right.
“I think I’ve put myself in a good position. All my workouts have been pretty good. A lot of times when it gets closer and closer to the draft, teams stop looking at your strengths and start looking at weaknesses, and I feel confident that my game is as complete as anybody’s. It might be hard to find a weakness.”
Despite Hinrich’s confidence, the uncertainty of when or whether league commissioner David Stern will call his name tonight has taken its toll.
“I’m so anxious,” Hinrich said. “That’s all you can think of. It’s such a big deal, a big time in your life and it impacts your life in so many ways. It’s tough. You can’t get your mind off it.
“I’m just hoping that he says my name sometime. I don’t want to get stuck there. I’m probably going to be real nervous, even though I don’t know if there’s any reason to be.”
Hinrich is projected higher in most mock drafts than Collison, but the 6-9 forward appeared more relaxed than his longtime teammate.
“I’m not really nervous,” said Collison, who averaged 18.5 points and 10.0 rebounds as a senior. “I’m happy that I’m going to be drafted into the league. I’ll be a little bit anxious to find out where I’m going to play and live.
“A lot of the mock drafts have me going to teams I didn’t even work out for. The consensus is no one really knows with this draft after three.”
The consensus is that Akron, Ohio, prep standout LeBron James will go No. 1 to Cleveland. Darko Milicic of Novi Sad, Montenegro, is projected No. 2 to Detroit, while Denver has made it clear it intends to take Syracuse freshman Carmelo Anthony with the third pick.
After that, who knows?
“You hear so much stuff,” Hinrich said. “It’s crazy. Every day that it gets closer it gets worse. I’ve been real anxious the last couple days. I just want it to be over with. You can be relieved. I know in the Green Room I’m going to be real nervous. When the clock starts ticking, it’s going to be interesting.
“You don’t know who to talk to or who to believe, and you’ve done all you can do. You’re done working out, so there’s nothing you can do to affect the draft now. You have to sit and wait. It is unsettling.”
Collison — who worked out for the Clippers, Golden State, Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York and Toronto — said the Knicks, who pick ninth, and SuperSonics, who pick 12th and 14th, appeared to be the teams most interested in him.
“It’s kind of a weird situation,” he said. “There aren’t many situations out there where a person is going to get a job but doesn’t know where or with who and you just all of the sudden find out one day. It’s a little unsettling, but to be in the NBA is a dream of mine, so no matter where I end up I’ll be happy.”
He also was happy to share one more experience with Hinrich.
“I think we’ll stay in touch a lot,” Collison said. “We’ve been good friends for a long time. I don’t think that will change. A lot of guys in the league played at Kansas, so we all keep in touch. It’s good to find out about other teams in the league and things like that.”
One of the Jayhawks already in the NBA is their former teammate and classmate Drew Gooden, who left school early after their junior year and was the No. 4 pick last year.
Collison and Hinich pondered going pro after the 2001-02 season before deciding to stay in school. Both said they would have no regrets — even if they’re not drafted as high as projected.
“My experience in four years of college helped me mature and really helped me get better,” Hinrich said. “This year when it comes to making this step, I’ll make it a little bit more easily.”