Rebounding is an art.  Just ask 6-foot-6 inch Dennis Rodman.  Or 6-foot-5 inch Charles Barkley.  These two (under-sized) players, more than any others in the modern era, both had a keen, natural instinct for the ball.  In a big man’s game, they made up for their lack of height by knowing exactly where and when the ball was going to careen off the rim and how to position themselves to secure that board.

If you watch North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough play basketball, you’ll find he shares those same instincts.  Much has been made lately over Hansbrough winning college basketball’s player of the year over Kansas State’s Michael Beasley.  Beasley posted superior numbers (barely) and most believe Beasley will boast a better professional career.  That may very well be the case.  At 6-foot-9, Hansbrough will likely be pigeon-holed into the power forward spot at the next level, and he may be a touch undersized for that position.

That doesn’t change the fact that this kid knows how to position himself around the rim to grab a rebound.  And for that type of player, there is ALWAYS room at the next level.  When you coach kids how to rebound, he’s the type of player you tell them to watch.

One only needed to watch Sunday’s ACC championship game and focus on number 50 throughout to see how he moves without the ball when a shot goes up.  Hansbrough finished that game with 18 points and 11 boards, including the game-winning offensive rebound AND the game winning base-line jumper.  If you watch the replay, when UNC’s next to last shot was released, Hansbrough was nowhere near the rim… until seconds later when he appeared out of nowhere to find the loose ball and can a silky smooth jumper at the buzzer to clinch the conference title for the powder blue.

Hansbrough played his best in big games:  16 points, 15 boards against Duke in March; 26 and 9 against Virginia Tech in the Conference semis; 39 and 13 against Clemson; 28 and 18 against Duke in February; 21 boards against Florida State.  He’s not flashy, he’s workmanlike.  And although Beasley averaged 26 and 12 this season to Hansbrough’s 23 and 10, Hansbrough’s team never lost four straight games this season like Beasley’s Kansas State.  You just get the sense he would never let that happen. 

You will get absolutely no disagreement from me that Michael Beasley will become the better professional player.   In fact, if they decide to leave early, Memphis’ Derrick Rose and USC’s OJ Mayo may also be drafted ahead of Tyler.  However, Hansbrough’s rebounding instincts are true.  If I were a General Manager with the number one pick in the draft, I’d surely choose Beasley first if he decides to leave early.  But if I end up with Hansbrough, I wouldn’t think twice about the kind of player I’d landed.  I’d stick him on the low blocks and let him go to work.  After all, every team can use a good rebounder.

Brandan Wright has probably said and done some stupid things in his lifetime.  But Thursday night’s faux pas was one for the record books.

With the eighth selection in the NBA draft, their first of the night, the Charlotte Hornets, led by General Manager Michael Jordan, drafted Wright, a lanky forward from the University of North Carolina.  Shortly after this announcement, Wright was interviewed by Stuart Scott of ESPN who commented that Wright was the first player drafted that evening who would lose a game of 1-on-1 to his new boss.  Wright then astonishingly replied “I don’t think Mike wants none of this.”

Excuse me?

Chalk this up in the What not to say about your boss, particularly if your boss is Michael Jordan category.  Now I’ve had several bosses in my day, some likeable, some ornery and none of them named Michael Jordan.  As adults and professionals, we learn it is improper to talk inappropriately about your supervisors.  Well Brandan, my friend, you just insulted your meal ticket and inarguably the greatest basketball player of all time on national television.

Only hours later, Wright was traded to the Golden State Warriors for Jason Richardson, a player who Wright will most likely never be better than.  Had this trade been in the works before draft night or did Jordan pull the trigger once he heard his once and future employee utter those fateful words?

Perhaps Brandan “You Ain’t” Wright thought he’d be impressing Mike by showing a little gumption and confidence after being drafted so high.  Maybe he felt he could get away with such a statement since they both share the same alma mater.  Perhaps Wright intended to use the 'don't want none of this' double-negative, to mean that Michael, in fact, did want some of this.  Or maybe he just wasn’t watching basketball in the 1980s and 90s when a man named Michael Jordan absolutely dominated the league.

Either way, Wright’s ill-advised comments, marked a memorable evening and most likely, indirectly resulted in his being shipped far, far away from his North Carolina home.

There is in air of anticipation in Gainesville, Florida this week.  And it’s not because football season is only two months away.  The University of Florida’s athletic program once again looks to go where no school has gone before.

In Thursday night’s NBA Draft, Florida has the potential to see three of its brightest stars get selected within the top ten picks.  No collegiate basketball program has ever experienced such good fortune before.  Not Kentucky.  Not North Carolina.  Not Indiana, Duke, Kansas or UCLA.  If the Big Three (Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer) all get drafted in the top 10, it will be the first time EVER three players from the same school have all been drafted so early.

Some programs have come close.  The 1976 Indiana Hoosiers team, coincidentally the last college basketball team to finish the season undefeated, had three players chosen in the Top 11 picks:  Scott May went second to the Bulls, Quinn Buckner went seventh to the Bucks, and Bob Wilkerson went eleventh to the Sonics.

Similarly the 2005 national champion North Carolina Tar Heels had four players selected in the top 14 picks.  Marvin Williams was selected second by the Hawks, Raymond Felton selected fifth by Charlotte, Sean May thirteenth also by Charlotte and Rashad McCants selected 14th by Minnesota.

This is not the University of Florida’s first brush with draft greatness.  The school has had a total of six first round draft picks in their history, most notably Mike Miller who was selected fifth by the Orlando Magic.  Neal Walk remains U.F.’s highest drafted basketball prospect, selected second overall in 1969, one spot behind Lew Alcindor.  Dwayne Schintzius (1990), Jason Williams (1998), Donnell Harvey (2000) and David Lee (2005) were also selected within the first thirty picks in their respective drafts.

Power forward Al Horford is projected to go as high as third to the Atlanta Hawks with former teammates Noah and Brewer probably following not too far behind him.  Many thought Noah would have been the first player taken in last year’s draft had he left Florida as a sophomore, but he and his teammates opted to return for the junior seasons for another shot at a national title.  Although Noah’s stock may have dropped, he’ll always have that extra championship ring to polish.

The possibility of this team once again making history through the draft should once again indicate how special this group of players was as once again, the Florida Gators stand on the verge of making history.