Former UH guard Carl English
has made the best of his time
leading up to the draft
CARL ENGLISH has proven what he can do with a basketball in his grasp. But his professional future will be very much out of his hands tomorrow.
The former Hawaii guard has crisscrossed the country this month in hopes of improving his stock in tomorrow's NBA Draft. Now all he can do is watch and wait to see whether his efforts pay off.
"I can't really control it, where I go or who takes me," English said in a telephone interview. "I'm just worried about the basketball aspect of it. I can't control anything else."
The two-round draft will be televised on ESPN starting at 1 p.m. Hawaii time.
English will not attend the draft in New York, opting instead to follow the proceedings on television with a gathering of family and friends in Toronto.
English left UH with a year of eligibility remaining as one of the school's most prolific scorers and he's hoping his performance at the NBA's pre-draft camp in Chicago and his individual workouts will convince a team to take a chance on him.
Since leaving Hawaii, English has spent precious few days at home in Canada between trips to NBA facilities. Following the Chicago camp, English had workouts with Indiana, Minnesota, Atlanta, Toronto, Orlando and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Atlanta, which has the 21st and 37th picks in the draft, thought enough of English to bring him back for a second look today.
"If I'm still around at that pick, it'll be great to end up there," English said. "So I have to go in there and perform the way I have been and hopefully they'll like what they see."
Mock drafts on the Internet generally have English pegged as a second-round prospect. NBAdraft.net predicts he'll to go to the Los Angeles Clippers with the 34th pick. ESPN.com projects him as Atlanta's second-round selection.
A spot in the first round comes with a three-year guaranteed contract. Second-round picks face a tougher battle for a place on the roster.
But English remains confident he's done enough to earn a spot among the first 29 selections.
"That's the way it's looking right now," English said. "If not, we'll make do, I'll be fine. But I think I will be (a first-round pick)."
English's workout tour gave him the opportunity to rub, or trade, elbows with other highly rated guards also fighting to improve their positions in the draft.
The Lakers' workout included Mo Williams of Alabama and Troy Bell of Boston College. In Toronto, English played against Oregon's Luke Ridnour and Kansas' Kirk Hinrich; both are expected to be taken in the top half of the first round.
"It's always good when you can play against lottery picks and you get a chance to showcase your talents," English said. "It's pretty exciting.
"I've played real well against these guys, so I think I've turned some heads."
English said his session in Orlando stood out as his best performance of the tour.
"It was just one of those days when everything was going," he said. "I played against (Marquette's) Dwyane Wade and some good competition and proved I could do it against those guys."
Although he's spent much of the month racking up frequent-flyer miles, English said the grind of his hectic travel schedule hasn't taken a toll on his game.
"My body's fine, usually I just push it to the limit anyway," he said. "You just travel and play, travel and play. It's like the regular season, so it's not so bad."
English's shooting ability remains his strongest selling point, but he used the workouts to highlight other elements of his game.
In addition to myriad shooting drills, English said the team officials looked at the players' footwork and defensive skills and pitted them against each other in one-on-one and two-on-two contests.
"I've shown them the different things I can do," English said. "I'm versatile and athletic, so it's been pretty good."
English (6-foot-5, 205 pounds) declared himself eligible for the draft in April following a junior season in which he set a UH record with 89 3-point goals and climbed to sixth on the UH career scoring chart with 1,259 points.
Throughout his travels, English said he's kept in touch with coaches and teammates in Hawaii anxious to see what his future holds.
"(Associate) Coach (Bob) Nash calls in to check in on me and see how I'm doing," he said. "Mark Campbell just called me and I talked to Phil (Martin), so I've been getting some support."
Draft notes: English is hoping to become the first UH player drafted since forward Reggie Cross was picked by Philadelphia in the second round of the 1989 draft. ... UH has produced only two first-round selections. Nash was drafted in the first round by Detroit in 1972 and Tom Henderson was Atlanta's top pick in 1974. ... Former Rainbow standout Predrag Savovic will be in New York working as an interpreter for ESPN. The guard from Yugoslavia completed his rookie campaign with the Denver Nuggets this season.
NBA Draft
Where: Madison Square Garden, New YorkWhen: Tomorrow, 1 p.m. Hawaii time
TV: Live, ESPN
