Monday Insider (Ford)

[Weez]

Updated: April 11, 2005, 11:15 AM ET

Scouts, GMs say everyone should go to schoolBy Chad Ford, ESPN Insider

Chad Ford Archive

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – If there are 60 decent prospects for the NBA draft this year, we'd like to know where they were hiding.

After spending the first three days of the week in Portsmouth, Va., at the NBA's first official draft camp and coming up near empty with a cast of 64 college seniors, Insider spent the weekend in Memphis, Tenn., at the Nike Hoop Summit game hoping that a combination of the top American high school basketball players and a team of 19-and-under international studs would make an impression.

Things aren't looking much better at the other end of the spectrum, either.

While Team USA easily beat the international team, 106-98 (it wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates), the game was of little consequence to the draft.

The game's best player, forward Tyler Hansbrough (33 points, 10 rebounds), isn't even thinking about the NBA right now (thankfully). The 6-foot-9 bruiser will be heading to North Carolina next season.

If only his teammates would follow his lead.

After watching three practices and the Hoop Summit game on Saturday, the general consensus from the nearly 100 NBA scouts and GMs in attendance was deafening – "Go to school!"

"I didn't see one player on the floor today that has any business being in the NBA next season," one respected GM, who has drafted a high school senior in the past, told Insider. "I've never believed that a kid has to go to college to be successful in the NBA. But this year's group really needs to go to school. I'm not sure who's telling them otherwise. But if their friends or agents are telling them to come out, they're giving them really bad advice."

If only anyone were listening.

Hansbrough was impressive, but UNC is better for him than the NBA now.The top player in the class, Gerald Green, already had skipped the event to begin preparing for his pro career. Green is the only high school player, however, who will receive strong consideration as a lottery pick.

Several looked to follow in his footsteps this week.

Of the kids who are mulling a jump straight to the NBA, Seattle sharpshooter Martell Webster was the best. He's got the body, size and jump shot to make it in the league. He also made several fantastic passes, and showed great leadership on the floor. After the game (21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists), a few scouts compared him to a young Glen Rice.

But even though most scouts Insider talked to like him and believe he could be a late-lottery to mid first-round pick, they all thought he needs at least one year of college at Washington. Webster isn't as obsessed as Louis Williams is about leaving for the draft.

Webster has maintained all year that he'll likely go to Washington next season. But he's still leaving the door open. "I'm considering it, yes," Webster said. "But I'm going to see how it goes. I'm not going to rush any decision."

Georgia guard Williams couldn't stop talking about the NBA in the practices leading up to the game (for the whole year actually). He's been looking for an excuse all spring to declare and probably found it after scoring 20 points in the game.

"I think I played great," he said. "I had 20 points, couple of rebounds, couple of steals. I just played an overall game and stayed within the team concept."

Williams did show that he can get to the basket with ease thanks to amazing quickness and athleticism. His jumper wasn't really falling in the game, but in the practices it looked very solid.

But Williams struggled mightily every time he was asked to do anything but score. On several possessions he looked like he didn't know what to do when he tried to step into a point guard role. He hesitated, turned the ball over badly on several occasions, and generally got his team into trouble whenever he tried to assume that role.

After the game, multiple sources told Insider that Williams likely will declare for the draft in the next week. To preserve his college eligibility, he likely won't hire an agent, but everyone believes that if he gets any interest at all in the first round (a remote possibility at this point), he'll make the jump directly to the NBA.

Rumor has it that Monta Ellis, the 6-foot-4 combo guard from Lanier, Miss., already has hired an agent and is a lock to declare. Ellis continues to deny it. But after a so-so performance in Memphis, he sure sounded like he was going pro.

"I'm not trying to think about it like that," Ellis said. "But I know what my heart is saying."

Hopefully his head and his heart are on the same page. Ellis, whom Insider has ranked as a likely first-rounder all year, has struggled enough in the camps the past few weeks that he's no longer a lock for the first round. While Ellis has a nice all-around game, scouts are becoming convinced that he'll struggle to make the transition to the point in the pros. If he's just another undersized two-guard, Ellis is probably stuck with Williams on that first-round bubble.

The word over the weekend was that Brandon Rush, a late addition to the team after Green pulled out, also will declare for the draft. According to sources close to Rush, he's got academic problems that might force his hand. That might explain why he's the only kid on the team yet to decide on a college.

Rush, who was the MVP of the Roundball Classic, barely played for Team USA on Saturday. He did look solid in the practice session, hitting the NBA 3-point shot with regularity, but every scout Insider talked to said he's a long shot to make it into the first round.

Two other standouts for Team USA are definitely going to college. Once again, point guard Greg Paulus (who is committed to Duke) ran the game flawlessly. If a number of the top point guards end up declaring for the draft, Paulus (10 assists, 2 turnovers) could easily end up being one of the top two or three point guards in the country next season. He still needs to work on his offensive game, however, if he wants to go pro.

The other standout was Julian Wright. Wright really stood out at the McDonald's game with his hustle and athleticism, and he did the same thing again at the Hoops Summit, scoring 11 points and grabbing 8 boards in just 16 minutes of play. He, too, needs to work on his jumper and find a position, but he should be an immediate impact player for Kansas next season.

The international team was largely a disaster. Despite the best efforts of the Hoop Summit organizers, they were unable to secure any of the top 15 19-and-under international players for the game.

Top prospects like Nemanja Aleksandrov and Rudy Fernandez were unable to play because of injury. The rest – including Martynas Andriuskevicius, Tiago Splitter, Uros Tripkovic, Johan Petro, Marko Tomas, Andrea Bargnani, Ersan Ilyasova, Yi Jian Lin, Marko Bellinelli, Sergio Rodriguez, Oleksiy Pecherov, Vasily Zavoruev and Peja Samardziski – were unavailable because of team commitments.

It's amazing, given the lack of talent, the international team played Team USA as close as it did.

None of the prospects on the floor is ready for the NBA, but a few intrigued scouts.

Lithuanian guard Martynas Pocius came into the event hyped as one of the best shooters in the field. He didn't show that at all in the practices or the game. He did hit a couple of 3-pointers late in the game, but over the week he was either ice cold or he isn't as great a shooter as advertised. However, he did show great athleticism and the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. He's either going to have to grow or improve his point guard skills to be a serious NBA prospect down the road, but he should be very good for Duke next season.

Canada's Jevon Shepard looked like the best player on the team during the practices and had a nice game for the international squad. He already has NBA athleticism and a good body, but he's going to have to work on his perimeter game.

Turkish big man Semih Erden has received some hype as a possible NBA player after coming up big in several games for Serbian powerhouse Partizan this season. He has the size and skill to be an NBA player. But scouts uniformly bashed him for his laziness in the practices, especially on the defensive end. During one practice on Friday, Erden looked absolutely indifferent despite playing in front of more than 50 NBA scouts. He had an OK game against Team USA but could do nothing to stop Hansbrough in the paint.

Speaking of defense, Greece's Dusan Sakota got the unfortunate assignment of guarding Hansbrough for most of the game. Sakota is a small forward in Greece, but because of his size (he's grown to 6-11), he started at center for the international team. Not only was he abused by Hansbrough in the paint, but he was really forced out of his game offensively. Sakota is an absolute dead eye from 3. In practice, he rarely missed and evoked a few unfair comparisons to Peja Stojakovic. However, on Saturday night he tried to provide the international team with some scoring in the paint, with just average success. Sakota already has declared for the draft, but will likely pull his name out before the deadline. Right now, he's not a first-rounder.

Lithuanian big man Vilmantas Dilys was one of the most skilled players on the team. But he was also the only player on the floor skinnier than Louis Williams. When you stand 6-11, that's not a good thing. His legs looked like toothpicks. He must add about 40 pounds of muscle before he even begins dreaming about the NBA.

The most intriguing prospect was Nigeria's Uche Echefu. Echefu is a 6-9 power forward with nice athleticism, a long wing span and an impressive mid-range jumper. He played high school ball in the United States last season and plans to go to college this year. In fact, he missed a practice to go take the SAT. Considering that he had a 3.8 GPA in high school, it shouldn't be a big issue for him. He's being recruited by Kentucky. If he goes there, he could be a nice prospect down the road.

Chad Ford covers the NBA draft for ESPN Insider.