More prep stars thinking about NBA .Shawn Kemp , Kevin Garnett , Kobe Bryant , Tracy McGrady , Rashard Lewis , Jermaine Oneal they never played college ball , they are all all-stars or rising stars , but can everyone be succesful ? no. http://espn.go.com/ncb/s/weeklyword/index.html By Andy Katz ESPN.com DeShawn Stevenson's air time on ESPN2 this week for the Utah Jazz summer team isn't helping college coaches recruiting the elite players in the Class of 2001. Throughout July, the talk among the class of 2001 -- even those players who aren't in the top five -- was Stevenson's and Darius Miles' meteoric rise from the Class of 2000 to the first round of the NBA draft. The common buzz among the players was this: they played against Miles and Stevenson and were able to score on them. The end result? 'If they can go, why can't I?' was a question heard often this month. "Darius is good and all, but I held my own against him," said Najeeb Echols, a 6-foot-7 wing from Whitney Young High in Chicago. "A lot of guys feel that they can go in the first round, too. Darius had a lot of people hyping him up. It's all about who you know. I know there are a lot of guys way better than Darius who won't get picked." Echols said if he were told he could go in the first round, he wouldn't pass up the chance. But the five players most likely to think about leaving for the NBA are centers Tyson Chandler (Dominguez High in Compton, Calif.), Eddy Curry (Thornwood High in South Holland, Ill.), point guard DaJuan Wagner (Camden High in New Jersey), guard Kelvin Torbert (Northwestern Edison High in Flint, Mich.) and forward Kwame Brown (Glynn Academy, Brunswick, Ga.). "DeShawn wasn't even in the top 10, so it shows you can go in the first round," Curry said. "I'm half and half right now on it." Wagner and Brown have committed to Memphis and Florida, respectively. They told ESPN.com that they would honor their commitments and attend college in 2001-02. Brown isn't sold on leaving without a guarantee of playing time. "They (Miles and Stevenson) won't see the court the first year," Brown predicted. "Maybe not even the second year so why not go to college for a year or two. I can grow and learn from my experience of going to college." Torbert said he's going to school, too. But Curry and Chandler won't make as strong a statement, yet. "My decision is me and me only," Chandler said. "I'm glad they're having success. A lot of guys are saying that they're better than them but they may not have the same athleticism." The fact neither Miles nor Stevenson were eligible when they declared for the draft may adversely affect players outside of the top five. "Some kids don't have the talent in the classroom so Darius Miles and DeShawn Stevenson doing this gives you the motivation to work harder to get there," said Jawad Williams, a 6-7 wing from Cleveland's St. Edward High. But Stevenson doesn't think the Class of 2001 understands how hard it is to get drafted. Stevenson traversed the country for a month working out with nearly half the teams in the first round. He's in Salt Lake City this week at the Rocky Mountain Revue with the Jazz team, trying to earn minutes next year. "People will see what I did and they won't know how hard it was in the workouts," Stevenson said. "You've got to go against grown men every day. People probably think they scored on me so they can go too. But you've got to be dedicated. Just because Kobe (Bryant) and Tracy (McGrady) did it, everyone thinks they can too." Stevenson and Miles did. And if that was enough motivation for them, at least two or three players from this class will think the same thing, too. End of the line for exempted events? ------------------ President of the Rockets/Raiders Fan Club
