News and notes from Portsmouth

Updated: April 11, 2003, 11:08 AM ET

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By by Chad Ford

Penn's Ugonna Onyekwe, a 6-foot-8 swingman from Nigeria, was the buzz kid during Day 2 at Portsmouth. Onyekwe's superior athleticism, long wing span, offensive rebounding and frantic full-throttle play really had scouts talking after he dropped 15 points, 13 boards and two blocks on 7 of 12 shooting Thursday. "Onyekwe's on a different level than just about everyone here," one scout told Insider. "I think he really helped himself today. The offense they ran at Penn really concealed some of the things that he does well. They ran a very structured ship up there. His ability to create shots for himself off the dribble really makes him stand out. If he could just start draining some threes, his stock would go through the roof. It's really a lesson to all the kids who skipped this camp. There's still time to make an impression." Onyekwe was surprised at all the attention he received. As we talked after the game, representatives from the Knicks and the Grizzlies approached him to set up interviews. "I know that I have to prove that I can play against better competition," Onyekwe told Insider. "I felt I had a very good game, that I got my points within the flow of the game. But I'm a little surprised at the big reaction. I've been doing this for four years at Penn. I guess now people are finally noticing." While scouts still feel that Onyekwe's lack of consistent outside jumper and shaky ball-handling skills will cripple his chances in the draft, Onyekwe thinks that the critique is ridiculous. The Nigerian native is a relative newcomer to the game. He didn't play organized basketball until his family moved from Nigeria to London when he was 15. At age 17, he traveled to America to play two years of high school ball. Onyekwe claims that he's still learning the finer points of the game. "The jump shot will come. I'm working on it. The ball handling will come too. The thing is, I'll work hard. I'll make the adjustments I have to make. Wait and see." Teams are likely to be patient. This is a terrible draft for small forwards and few players have Onyekwe's athleticism or upside. Teams expect that he'll receive an invitation to the Chicago camp. A strong performance there (and that improved jump shot he's promised) could make him a lock for the second round.

The surprise player of the day had to be BYU's Travis Hansen. Hansen, a 6-foot-6 swingman with above average athleticism, a killer jumper and great floor vision, impressed scouts with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds on 7 of 9 shooting Thursday. "I love that kid," one Eastern Conference executive told Insider. "He's a sleeper. He's very tough, deceptively athletic and he has NBA range on his three-point shot. I'm not sure he does anything great, but he does just about everything well. He's probably the most complete player, from a skill standpoint, here." Hansen knows he has several stereotypes to overcome. Teams fret over his age. He took two years off after his freshman year to serve a LDS mission in Chile. Hansen also knows that teams often revert to clich�s about skinny white kids from BYU, not exactly an NBA basketball factory, when describing him. Hansen remains extremely confident. "I know what I can do," Hansen said. "All I wanted was a chance to prove myself. I got it and I'm going to make the most of it." He's already doing that. Two teams, the Clippers and Grizzlies, have been scouting him heavily over the season. He also has a big fan in former NBA star, coach and BYU alumni Danny Ainge. Ainge has been making calls in his behalf, hoping to get Hansen's foot in the door. It's working. Several NBA teams told Insider that they would definitely have him in for private workouts once teams can start working out players. If worst comes to worst and Hansen doesn't get drafted, he's not afraid of what awaits him overseas. He speaks fluent Spanish from his days in Chile and wouldn't mind taking his wife and 2-month-old child, Ryder, to Spain if his NBA dream doesn't pan out.

Ohio's Brandon Hunter had a good night. His bruising 11-point, five-rebound performance had scouts smiling. For those of you who haven't seen Hunter play, he reminds me of a stronger and more offensively skilled Gary Trent. The good news is that he measured in at 6-foot-7. That's not the ideal size for a power forward, but before the official measurements, teams were insisting that he was closer to 6-foot-5.

LSU's Ronald Dupree is another big-time athlete who could sneak into the second round after a strong performance on Thursday. He had several highlight reel dunks on his way to an 11-point, four-rebound performance.

Marquette power forward Robert Jackson (6-9, 253) impressed with a whopping nine offensive rebounds. His 18 points didn't hurt his cause either. But eyebrows were raised a bit when Jackson officially measured in at 6-foot-9 with shoes, and 6-foot-7½ without them. He was wearing some serious elevator shoes for his physical.

DePaul's Sam Hoskin, a 6-foot-9, 258-pound power forward, had a solid 20-point outing in the early game. He's got the size and body teams like in a power forward, but his rebounding skills are pretty suspect. He grabbed only three boards on Thursday and averaged just 7.6 rpg during the season.

Virginia's Travis Watson (6-8, 255) rebounded from a terrible opening night performance to score 13 points and pull down 16 rebounds. Watson is another player who has the size to play in the pros, but really lacks the athleticism or scoring acumen to get scouts really excited.

Probably nothing was as important to many of these kids as the official height and measurements that were released Thursday night. Among the guys who saw their stock drop the second the results were announced: Kevin Johnson, a power forward from Tulsa, measured just 6-foot-5½ without shoes. Before the tournament, teams were talking about how Johnson would have to make the transition from the four to the three to make in the league. Now, he'll have to go from the four to the two. That's probably not going to happen. Alabama's Erwin Dudley measured just 6-foot-7 without shoes. UNLV's Dalron Johnson was listed at 6-foot-10 in college, but he measured 6-foot-7¾ at Portsmouth.

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