June 20, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
As the 2002 NBA Draft approaches, following are draft notes for the University of Maryland and quotes from Maryland coach Gary Williams. The defending national champion Terrapins have four candidates in this year's draft, hoping to mark the first time in school history that four Maryland players are chosen in the draft's first two rounds.
MARYLAND PLAYERS IN THE 2002 NBA DRAFT
Sophomore power forward Chris Wilcox has been projected as the fifth lottery pick in Maryland history, and is expected to be chosen within the draft's first seven picks. Wilcox was third team All-ACC last season and an all-tournament pick at the NCAA Final Four. He started the last 26 games of the 2001-02 season and averaged 12.0 points and 7.1 rebounds. [Wilcox's draft bios on ESPN.com and NBA.com]
Senior guard Juan Dixon has been projected to go as high as the middle of the first round. The Final Four MVP and ACC Player of the Year was the third-leading vote-getter for the Wooden Player of the Year Award in college basketball, and was a three-time first team pick in the ACC. He averaged 20.4 points while leading the national champions in scoring and becoming the school's all-time scoring champion (2,269). He is the only player in college history with over 2,000 points, 300 steals and 200 3-pointers. [Dixon's draft bios on ESPN.com and NBA.com]
Senior power forward Lonny Baxter has been projected as high as a late first round selection. The two-time NCAA Regional MVP teamed with Juan Dixon to become the highest-scoring tandem (4,127 points) in NCAA history ever to win a national championship, and the 12th-highest scoring tandem overall. Baxter averaged 15.2 points and led Maryland with 8.2 rebounds. [Baxter's draft bios on ESPN.com and NBA.com]
Senior guard Byron Mouton had impressive performances at NBA camps at Portsmouth and Chicago, and could work his way into a second round selection. The high-energy catalyst averaged 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds and often defended the opponents' top scorer. A transfer after leading Tulane in scoring as a freshman and sophomore, Mouton started 65 games over two seasons and helped the Terps to consecutive Final Four appearances. [Mouton's draft bios on ESPN.com and NBA.com]
MARYLAND DRAFT NOTES
* If Wilcox and Dixon both go in the first round, it will be the third time in Maryland history that two Terps have been drafted in the first round ... Tom McMillen (9th overall, Buffalo) and Len Elmore (13th overall, Washington) in 1974, and Buck Williams (3rd overall, New Jersey) and Albert King (10th overall, New Jersey) in 1981.
* The '81 draft saw two Maryland players go in the top 10 picks; two Terps went in the top 13 picks in '74; two Terps went in the top 32 picks in '76; two Terps went in the top 37 picks in '99; two Terps went in the top 43 picks in '90.
* Only once has Maryland ever had three players chosen in the first two rounds --- Steve Francis (1st rd., Vancouver), Obinna Ekezie (2nd rd., Vancouver), Laron Profit (2nd rd., Orlando) in 1999.
* The '99 draft saw Francis go as the #2 pick, Ekezie as #37 pick and Profit as #38. That is the highest that a Maryland trio has ever been drafted.
* Maryland has had three players chosen in the NBA draft on only five previous occasions: 1960, 1973, 1981, 1984, 1999.
* Maryland has NEVER had four players chosen in the first two rounds of an NBA draft.
* Only once has Maryland ever had four players chosen at all. In 1981, Buck Williams and Albert King were first round choices, both by the New Jersey Nets; Ernest Graham was a third round pick (#68 overall) by Philadelphia; Greg Manning was chosen in the seventh round by Denver.
* Through 24 seasons as a college head coach Gary Williams has never had as many as four players from the same team chosen in the same draft, or more than one first round draft pick from the same team in the same draft. He had three Maryland players chosen in the 1999 draft and has had seven first round picks overall.
* Williams has coached five previous lottery selections: Steve Francis in 1999, Joe Smith in 1995, Jim Jackson (Ohio State) in 1992, Walt Williams (Maryland) in 1992 and Dennis Hopson (Ohio State) in 1987.
* Williams coached four players that were selected in the 10-round 1983 draft, though two were from Boston College and two from American University.
GARY WILLIAMS DRAFT QUOTES
On Lonny Baxter's future in the NBA:
Lonny's going to play in the NBA. He needs to get with a team that wants to use him for what he can do, and realize that he was the MVP of an NCAA regional in each of the last two years, and consider the quality of the big men that he's played against. He's certainly proven that he can play. I think you've got to get away from the fact that he's a power forward at 6-8. Lonny can play power forward at 6-8 in the NBA. He needs to become a better shooter, but he will do that as time goes by. When I was at Boston College, I remember being in an NCAA region with Karl Malone. Karl Malone didn't shoot the ball as well as Lonny when they were at a comparable stage of their careers.
On Juan Dixon's future in the NBA:
What Juan did this year was remarkable. He was the best player in the NCAA Tournament, and he proved it as a marked man. His ballhandling has improved every year here, and he has played and defeated players that are playing in the NBA right now. If Juan and Lonny are not first round picks, it's going to be a crime. They've already reached the ability to play at the next level. They put their four years in, and nobody earned the honors they did. Neither one of those guys is a development project. They know how to play and they can help a team right now.
On Byron Mouton's future in the NBA:
Byron Mouton will be a surprise for someone. Anytime that you have a good team and you have several players that have gotten more attention then Byron did, a guy like him can tend to fade into the background. You can only watch so many players in a game at one time. Since the season's been over, Byron has played great both in Portsmouth and in Chicago, and he has done well in individual workouts. Byron's big for a guard. He's 6-6 and 215 pounds, he's got that classic pro size that they look for in the backcourt. There's no doubt in my mind that Byron can play in the NBA, but with Byron it's going to be about people getting to see him and understand how good he is. With Juan being spectacular and Lonny putting up numbers around him, it was hard for Byron to get attention at Maryland. In a lot of games we played, Byron always got 15 points and six rebounds and did a great defensive job, but it was always an afterthought. Hopefully, he's getting the attention now, that he deserves. After watching the draft over the years, in my mind, Byron's a steal in the second round because he'll compete with anybody on the team. Nobody plays harder than Byron and he's got skills. People forget that he was the leading scorer at Tulane during his freshman and sophomore years, so he can put numbers on the board in addition to begin a good defensive player. Byron's a great team player. He reminds me a lot of Rick Fox with the Lakers.
On Chris Wilcox's future in the NBA: Chris' stock has really gone up steadily. It's been a quick rise. A lot of times in the draft, it's about a guy's potential, and what he can do in the future. Chris' potential is unmatched in this year's draft. I don't think there's another guy in the draft with more potential than Chris. He's 19 years old and has a tremendous topside. He's got that prototype NBA body that everybody looks for. He's that 6-9 or 6-10 guy that can run and jump as well as any player that plays his position. He's got great physical attributes that separate him from many players. And his leaping ability is excellent. And he's gotten better, too. In the two years he was here, he's really improved his game. Being that he's young, there is no reason that his improvement won't continue to happen. His development as a shooter was just starting to happen at the end of this year. I think he was very similar to Joe Smith who was the college player of the year here as a sophomore in 1995. Joe was probably a better shooter than Chris when he left here as a sophomore, but Chris is more powerful an inside player than Joe was.
On Lonny's strengths & weaknesses:
Lonny's strength is his durability and toughness, and great touch around the basket. And he knows how to win. He's a winner. I'm sure people will look at him and ask how well he can shoot. Like most players his size, like Karl Malone, the shooting can come with time. It becomes a refinement process among big men. If he had to become tough or had to learn how to run, that would be different. He already has those things. He still has time for his shooting to develop.
On Juan's strengths & weaknesses:
Juan has improved every year, improving and working on different parts of his game with every season. Among them, he's become a better ballhandler, especially in the last two years. There will always be negative people out there who will say he is too small, but those same people said he was too small to play Division I. And then he was too small to play in the ACC. But he's proven that to be wrong. He was the ACC player of the year, a first team All-American and the MVP of the Final Four. I've watched him everyday in practice get bounced around with our big guys like Lonny Baxter, Chris Wilcox and Tahj Holden. I've seen that too many times, and Juan never missed a practice in his whole career here. He played every game in four seasons.
On Byron's strengths & weaknesses:
Byron's greatest strength is his physical size, and the ability to play physically both inside and out. He really doesn't have any critical weakness. He's an all-around player who plays harder than most of his opponents. He's proven that he can be a scorer both in college, and at Portsmouth and Chicago. And his best asset is his defensive play. Byron is a very big guard who has great energy and athleticism. He just needs the chance to be noticed.
On Chris' strengths & weaknesses:
His strength is his physical ability. I don't there's anybody in the country at the power forward that has his combination of quickness and power. As far as any weakness is concerned, he is still learning how to play at the same level of consistency and effort every time. When he was in high school he would score 20 points with 10 rebounds just by standing around. In the ACC, he would get better at being more consistent in more games. There were times when Chris didn't play hard enough and he didn't play well. But when he did play hard, he was an outstanding player. And Chris realizes that. That is the process of being a 19-year old. That's what you get nowadays when you draft these guys that are 19-years old. You're getting kids, you're not getting men in terms of maturity. But Chris is a good person and he will work to get to wherever he has to get. The best thing about Chris is that there is a very high topside to his game. He could be a great one.
On four players in the draft and two potential first round picks:
I think having four players in the draft shows you what type of players we had last year. You take a lot of pride as a coach, to try and develop players to their maximum ability. In college, you recruit, you coach and you develop players. I think that's my job as much as anything. When a player and his family trusts us to come here to play their basketball, what they're saying is that they believe they will leave here being a better basketball player. I take a great deal of pride in making that happen. When you look at our track record, I think it shows that we've taken good players and really helped make them better.
