Cal's DeVon Hardin is here. So is UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, USC's Davon Jefferson and three-fifths of Oregon's starting lineup.
So where is Jawann McClellan, the high school all-American who went on to play for the Arizona Wildcats?
Instead of joining his fellow Pac-10 mates in this week's NBA predraft games, he is training quietly in New Jersey, hoping to catch the eye of league officials during private team workouts next month.
Not only was McClellan not among the 64 players invited to the games at Disney's Wide World of Sports, but he also was not invited to the less prestigious seniors-only camp in Portsmouth, Va., last month, according to NBA scouting directors Marty and Ryan Blake.
In addition, McClellan's bio also does not appear in the 114 player descriptions compiled by the NBA for its official 2008 draft guide. And only 60 players will be drafted.
Maybe that is what happens when you spend much of your college career wracked by injuries, then molded into a defensive-minded role player during your senior year, putting up the kind of numbers (8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds) that do not exactly give you a head start in professional basketball.
"I think he will have to grow and develop his game in a minor-league setting for a while,"
David Griffin, the Suns' VP of basketball operations, said of McClellan. "But he has the size and skill and a toughness."
McClellan also has a strong belief in himself, no matter how tough his road may appear.
"I'm very confident that once I start working out, I'm going to surprise a lot of teams,"
McClellan said by telephone from New Jersey. "I know I wasn't asked to do much, and that could hurt me draft-wise, but I was willing to do it to help the team. Some teams do know that."
McClellan said he has not set up any NBA team workouts yet but expects to once teams schedule in projected first-round picks.
What he does then could go a long way toward determining his future, according to Ryan Blake, the NBA's assistant director of scouting. Blake said McClellan could find room for improvement in either the NBA Development League or an overseas league.
"He's got a lot of ability, and he could gain back his confidence,"
Blake said. "When a guy's shut down or becomes a role player for whatever reason, that does not mean your upside is not done, that you don't have a chance to become a better player."
Blake said playing in the D-league would be a great opportunity for McClellan because it would gain him exposure to NBA officials and a chance to learn the NBA game. Griffin says there are advantageous situations overseas where a player could play up to 100 games and blossom.
"You never know,"
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace said of McClellan. "There are 400-some players in the NBA, but they all didn't get drafted. Ben Wallace didn't get drafted. You go to the minors or Europe or whatever, and maybe something can happen."
Rim shots
● Suns GM Steve Kerr said former UA interim head coach Kevin O'Neill will be an asset for the Memphis Grizzlies as their expected new assistant coach.
"I know they want to shore up their defense, and he's a defensive-minded guy for sure, and he's an incredibly hard worker,"
Kerr said. "But the dynamics of any staff are important. All the pieces have to fit together."
● Ex-UA guard Jerryd Bayless is among nine players invited to a media session today, along with Texas' D.J. Augustin, Kansas State's Michael Beasley, Indiana's Eric Gordon, Stanford's Brook Lopez, UCLA's Kevin Love, USC's O.J. Mayo, LSU's Anthony Randolph and Memphis' Derrick Rose. The selection approximates the NBA's estimation of likely lottery picks.
