Hasheem Thabeet is back on the UConn campus for about a week before heading out to Las Vegas to play for the Memphis Grizzlies' summer league team. According to Thabeet, his summer league teammates will include former UConn teammate Jeff Adrien, as well as ex-Husky stars Marcus Williams and Kevin Ollie.

Over the next week, Thabeet will be staying with his mother, who lives in Springfield, Mass., while working out at Gampel – lifting weights under UConn strength and conditioning coach Chris West's watch. The Grizzlies will also be sending a coach out this way to supervise Thabeet's workouts.

Once summer league ends on July 18, Thabeet will fly back to his native Tanzania, where he's been invited by President Jakaya Kikwete to speak to Parliament.

"I don't even know what to say," Thabeet said. "I'm not up on politics and things like that."

Knowing Thabeet's effervescent personality, however, it says here he'll do just fine.

"I should be good," he admits.

Prior to training camp, Thabeet will have to take part in the NBA's rookie transition program in New York City.

After being drafted by the Grizzlies as the No. 2 overall pick on Thursday night, Thabeet flew to Memphis on Friday and worked out for the team over the weekend. In between workouts, Thabeet was able to do a little house-hunting. He's honing in on some five-bedroom estates which, eventually, his mother and some other family members would move into with him.

Must be nice.

Jeff Adrien didn't get drafted tonight, but it says here he'll find a spot on an NBA roster next fall. He'll be a free agent and possibly have a chance to select which team he'd like to sign with. He may start getting calls tonight (this morning).

Adrien's hometown Boston Celtics had the chance to take him with the 58th overall pick in the draft, but instead chose Tennessee-Martin guard Lester Hudson, who was the nation's second-leading scorer after Stephen Curry.

Otherwise, a pretty good night for the Big East – four Big East alums in the first round and 10 overall. First round: UConn's Hasheem Thabeet, Syracuse's Jonny Flynn (No. 6), Louisville's Terrence Williams (No. 11) and Earl Clark (No. 14).

In the second round, Villanova's Dante Cunningham (No. 33), Georgetown's DaJuan Summers (No. 35), Pitt's Sam Young (No. 36) and DeJuan Blair (No. 37), UConn's A.J. Price (No. 52)

Maybe it's because I watched the two torch UConn twice this past season, but if you ask me, both Young and Blair are much better NBA prospects than Cunningham and Summers. Cunningham deservedly won the Big East's most improved player award, but he doesn't have the skills or athleticism of either Pitt player. Just as Jim Calhoun.

***Some real doozies asked by a couple of media members at Hasheem Thabeet's press conference.

Here's one question: "Memphis is known for great music, great food … pro basketball, not so much. How much do you know about the city of Memphis and are you concerned about a franchise that has been a colossal failure?"

Another one, from the same guy, to No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin: "Blake, the philosopher Santayana once said, 'Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' With 30 years of losing in an organization, is it going to take time?"

Not every day you hear Santayana quoted in a presser.

***Brandon Jennings elected not to wait in the "green room" (which isn't green at all and in fact, isn't even a room, as Phil Chardis pointed out) with his fellow likely lottery picks. A statement released by his agent earlier in the day indicated he'd be watching the draft on TV with his family in a "more private setting, with the people he loves the most." Apparently, the Jennings camp believed he had slipped far in the draft and didn't want to have a Brady Quinn-like situation, sitting around, embarassingly waiting forever to be picked.

But Jennings wound up going No. 10. Then, after absent Earl Clark was picked at No. 14, Jennings emerged onto the stage to be congratulated by NBA commissioner David Stern. Seems that "private setting" wasn't too far from the Garden.

***The New York crowd, as always, let us know how it really felt. When Stern kicked off the proceedings by congratulating the Lakers for their NBA title, the chant of "Lakers (stink)!" went through the building.

The crowd was extremely disappointed when Stephen Curry went to Golden State at No. 7 – one pick before the Knicks. Curry seemed to be hoping to go to the Knicks, whose style of play would seem to suit him to a 'T.' Instead, the Knicks took Arizona's Jordan Hill, a power forward.

There were (unnecessary, if you ask me) chants of "Over-rated!" when UNC's Tyler Hansbrough was picked at No. 13 by the Pacers. And when Israel's Omri Casspi was picked by Sacramento at No. 23, there was actually cheering on press row by (we presume) an Israeli writer.

Some quotes from Hasheem Thabeet's press conference, after he was selected by Memphis with the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft:

"I'm happy and excited.I look forward to being part of the Grizzlies' organization."

On whether he had an inkling that Memphis would select him:

"I was surprised. (The Grizzlies) were calling my agent … I was waiting to hear what's going to happen. I ended up in Memphis, so I'm happy. I was going to be happy wherever I ended up. This is, for me, a great opportunity to go out there and play ball and have fun."

On his improvements from his freshman year at UConn to now:

"When I came here, I never thought, first of all, that I would be able to make it to Division I. I ended up at UConn, and when I got to UConn, I got to be coached by Jim Calhoun. He pushed me since day one ... I had to believe in myself that I can definitely do it. After my freshman year, I was young and I had to grow up and (Calhoun) prepared me mentally pretty well for me to believe in myself. He challenged me and I can challenge myself to be man enough to go out there and play ball, and I ended up believing in myself since my freshman year."

Thabeet considered leaving for the NBA after both his freshman and sophomore seasons. Calhoun told him leaving after his freshman year "is going to be the worst mistake in your life. I had to believe in him and trust him and told my family that I can wait a couple off years for me to be in the NBA … To me, this is a blessing."

Thabeet, who becomes the first Tanzanian ever selected in the NBA draft, was seated with his mother, Rukia Manka, who still lives in Tanzania. His father, Thabit Manka, passed away several years ago.

"The first five years (away from home), I didn't get to see my family … I used to speak to them on the phone every two or three weeks, and now they are here and get to experience this with me. I don't even know how to explain that. It's just a great feeling and I'm happy that (my mother) was there to experience it."

Still waiting to see if A.J. Price and/or Jeff Adrien get selected. Stay tuned ...

Hasheem Thabeet has been selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the No. 2 pick in the 2009 NBA draft. He'll join former Husky Rudy Gay on a team that also features (for now, anyway) four other 7-footers: starting center Marc Gasol, who averaged 11.9 points per game last season, Chris Mihm, rookie Hamed Haddadi, infamous draft bust Darko Milicic and Thabeet.

Heading off to Thabeet's press conference, will be back with more ...

(P.S. -- Who sang "All the Way to Memphis"?)

Hasheem Thabeet visited the Empire State Building and its famous 86th-floor observatory on Tuesday as he gets set for Thursday's NBA Draft at Madison Square Garden. Here are some photos taken by Matt McCullough:

Went over to Gampel Pavilion this afternoon to see what’s going on up in UConn territory. Apparently, just missed Jerome Dyson, who has been cleared to participate in full-contact drills and pick-up games for the first time since tearing the lateral meniscus in his right knee in February.

Otherwise, had a good chat with associate head coach George Blaney (Jim Calhoun has only been in the office once, for about an hour, since breaking five ribs in a bike crash on June 13), as well as Ater Majok and a few other players. Here’s what we’ve got:

***All indications are that Majok will be on board for the Huskies next season. He’s been working out at Gampel pretty much every day for the past week with UConn’s other players. Perhaps more telling, he has signed up for second-session summer classes at the school that begin in late-July.

“He’s doing everything that indicates that he is (planning on playing for UConn),” Blaney noted
.
Added junior guard Donnell Beverly: “He said he’s staying here, that he’s going to come to school.”

Majok, however, won’t guarantee it.

“I think I’ll be playing at UConn next year,” he said with a wide grin, before adding. “I don’t know yet, but I would really like to … I need a championship, so that might motivate me to come back.”

So, who knows? Majok said his workouts for NBA teams over the past month or so was “a good experience, I learned a lot. It’s good for someone like me who hasn’t played basketball a lot, just to go and learn the game from the veterans and coaches.”

He added that working out with the rest of UConn’s players, particularly the guards, this summer is a positive, “so when I get on the court later, we have something in common, we’ve played together already.”

Majok says the coaching staff tells him he’s a “hybrid four – and that basically, I’m a nightmare for any four-man in the nation. I can shoot the 3, and not a lot of big guys can go out there and handle the ball, things like that. They look at me as a hybrid four – a three or a four who plays the four.”

***It’s June, we realize that. But if the season started tomorrow, Gavin Edwards would be the starting four and Charles Okwandu the starting five.

“Charles is strong, he can rebound, he can really defend,” said Blaney. “He’s a baby offensively, but when you have Kemba (Walker), Jerome and Stanley (Robinson), you’re not looking for a ton of scoring from that position.”

As for Edwards, it’s just a matter of him having as much confidence in himself as the coaching staff has.

“He has all the skills – passing, catching and shooting,” Blaney said. “He has basketball knowledge, he’s one of the smarter players we have, guard or forward. He’s got great speed, he’s got great jumping ability. I think he’s a little bit like Hilton (Armstrong) – he’s kind of grown into his body, he’s made himself a lot stronger.”

Said Edwards: “I think I’ve kind of come into my own now, and I’m ready to believe in myself the way everybody else on the coaching staff does. They’ve been telling me that the (No. 4) spot’s basically mine to lose and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t have the confidence to be able to go out there and start and play as well as I have in my best games here.”

***In further evidence of how social-networking affects the college sports landscape, a rumor broke out shortly after the end of last season that 7-foot enter Jonathan Mandeldove was set to transfer. It was even reported by a local news station, apparently as a result of a “tweet” on Mandeldove’s Twitter page.

In fact, Mandeldove, a senior, said transferring from UConn was never a consideration. As for the “tweet”, it was just a joke on Mandeldove’s part.

“I saw (the rumor) and I replied with another tweet, ‘Leaving campus right now,’ because I saw someone was following me and posted it up on another website,” he said. “That was a little prank.”

In fact, Mandeldove’s teammate – little-used junior guard Donnell Beverly – did give some consideration to transferring.

“I thought about it,” Beverly said. “I talked to some people at home, and we figured the best thing for me to do is just to stay here, because my chance will come, I believe that. And I’m under a great coach, anyway. Nobody would be able to get you more ready than coach Calhoun.”

***The Huskies use a VertiMax machine to help players improve their leaping ability. The machine has a harness that players tie around their waist and is connected to a platform by two cords. The players jump (as high as they can) while strapped into the harness and dunk or put in as many layups as they can over a certain amount of time. After the resistance that the machine offers, the players feel they can jump through the roof once unharnessed.

“Everybody raves about it,” said head manager Ben Wood.

Upon stepping onto the machine, making him practically eye-level with the bottom of the basket net, Majok said: “I’m so close (to the rim). Is this how Hasheem feels?”

***Edwards has won the team’s strength and conditioning award the past two years.

***Blaney said Jeff Adrien had two very good workouts over the weekend, with Utah and Charlotte. The Utah workout went particularly well, with Jazz coach (and soon-to-be Hall of Famer) Jerry Sloan in attendance.

“That would be a kind of coach that he’d really do well with,” said Blaney.

***As for Hasheem Thabeet: “All of the pro guys I’ve been talking to, it sounds to me like (he’s) No. 2.”

***Blaney on Calhoun: “He’s trying to get up and move around, get the blood flowing, not be sedentary – and you know he’s going to do more of that than he’s supposed to. Each day, he sounds better. If you catch him at the end of the day, he usually sounds a little tired.”

With Ater Majok officially pulling his name out of the 2009 NBA Draft, there are four players with UConn ties who will be waiting to hear their names called next Thursday night – Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien and Nate Miles (remember him?).

Thabeet is likely to be the No. 2 overall pick; Miles will almost certainly not be selected at all. In between are Price and Adrien, who will await hearing their names with the most suspense.

With less than a week before the draft, here's how the four players size up, and what they can expect on draft day:

THABEET

***Will probably end up at Memphis with the No. 2 pick, though Grizzlies' GM Chris Wallace hasn't settled on anybody yet, and Thabeet has yet to work out for the team. He will work out for the Grizzlies on Saturday. Memphis is also considering dropping down in the draft, which is considered a pretty weak one.

According to the UConn coaching staff, Memphis and Oklahoma City have had the most inquiries about Thabeet.

***There are some worries about a shoulder injury. Not sure if this is related to the infamous DeJuan Blair flip-over. (Maybe this explains why Thabeet seems to have a Johnny Damon-esque throwing arm).

***An NBA director of player development on Thabeet: "He's never going to be a guy you can throw the ball in the post and run your offense through, like the Houston Rockets do with Yao Ming. He's just not that skilled … he's got an advantage with his size and length, but can he make the elbow jumper? … If he gets with a very good point guard who sets him up for dunks, like Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul in New Orleans, he has the ability to roll to the rim pretty much every time."

PRICE:

***Probably a mid-to-late second round pick. First round? "I don't think he's there," said an NBA source.

***Same director of player development on Price: "With A.J., people like his leadership, his ability to get in the lane, make jumpers, pull up around the elbow. The big concerns with A.J., are, defensively, will he be able to slide and stay in front of guys? Can he go side-to-side and keep quicker guys in front of him? Guys got by him fairly regularly in the zone, but the difference is he had Thabeet to protect the rim … (Also), in college he was primarily a shoot-first guy. He got some assists, but it seemed he'd look for his shot first, and it was contested, he'd find someone under the basket for a dunk. Some guys drive into the lane looking to set up their teammates."

*** Reports that Price had an aneurysm in his brain were "misleading," according to the NBA official. "Our team doctor went through the whole medical process (at the pre-draft camp in Chicago) and red-flagged a few guys. A.J. was not one of them."

In fact, a source close to Price said that Price underwent an MRA (Magnetic Resonance Angiography) that revealed no aneurysm.

***Price has had about seven workouts so far -- including Detroit, Sacramento, Cleveland, Washington, Minnesota – and still has two more lined up, with Denver and with the world-champion Lakers. The Nuggets and Miami Heat have shown the most interest in him thus far.

ADRIEN:

***Late second round, or could go undrafted.

***Our NBA guy on Adrien: "Teams like the kind of player Jeff is. Every team would like a player who rebounds that efficiently, who's that tough, who's not afraid of contact."

The source also noted that Adrien's measurements were "freakish." Though measured at 6-6 ½, Adrien has a 7-2 wingspan.

"That's way more valuable than a guy's size. Guys who are 6-6 with 6-6 wingspans, that doesn't do you much good. Guys like Jeff who are 6-6 with a 7-2 … you don't play basketball to the top of your head. Length is very useful."

***Adrien "needs to work on his shooting," said the source. "He's kind of got a long wind-up, he takes the ball behind his head. He needs to work on shortening his stroke."

***Adrien had also been slowed by tendonitis in his knee recently. "I don't know how serious it is, but it's hurting him right now," the source said last week, noting that at a group workout in Houston last month, Adrien was wearing a brace on one of his knees. "His stride was a little off. He was not running like he was at UConn, when he was healthy."

***If Adrien goes undrafted, it might not be such a bad thing. Second-round draft picks are non-guaranteed, anyway, so a team that drafts him could still cut him by early January. If he goes undrafted, Adrien could pick and choose a better fit for him as a free agent.

The typical route to take would be playing for a team in an NBA summer league, either in Orlando July 6-10 or Las Vegas July 11-20. If the team likes what they see, they'd extend him an invitation to training camp in the fall.

MILES:

***No chance he gets drafted. Miles has had workouts with several NBA teams recently, however.

Said our NBA source: "He's a skilled offensive player, pretty quick … his shooting is pretty special. He's got a good-looking stroke, a quick release."

But …

"Physically, he's weak … he looks like a high school kid … and defensively, he's bad right now. He'd be a below-average college defender."

Character concerns could also scare teams off.

***The economy is also an issue. In the past, most teams were allowed to keep the maximum 15 players on a roster. Now, there's a good chance most teams will be down to 13 or 14. The minimum is 13, and that can go down to 12 for a while. In other words, teams don't have the luxury of drafting guys who are few years away and can languish on the end of the bench for a few years. A couple of years ago, a guy like Miles may have been drafted. This year? No chance.

***Miles will likely end up having to decide whether to play in the NBA Developmental League for lousy money, but with the chance to get called up midseason by the NBA, or play overseas and make better money, but have virtually no chance of getting called to the NBA during the season, since the NBA and FIBA honor each others' contracts.

Most likely, Miles will get selected by a D-League team next fall and work his way to "The League" through that route.

Hasheem Thabeet is likely to be the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft next Thursday night. He's a two-time national defensive player of the year and an All-American. He's also quite skilled at soccer (his father, we're told, was one of the great players in Tanzanian history). Thabeet is a two-sport star.

Baseball, however, is not his game. See for yourself on this YouTube clip where Thabeet and Brandon Jennings throw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game recently. (P.S. -- I apologize for the R-rated rap song playing in the background, but nothing I could do about it. Keep this out of earshot of kids, however).

Thabeet's warm-up throws with Jennings won't make anyone forget Sandy Koufax (or Randy Johnson, if you're looking for someone nearly the same height). And while squatted behind home plate to catch Jennings' first pitch, big Hash won't make anyone forget Roy Campanella or Mike Piazza, either. He gets all Rich Gedman on us and drops the ball!!!

At least Thabeet and Jennings got to pose for pictures with Joe Torre, and seemed to be having a great time. Hash was recently on the Jim Rome Show, as well. He's working out in L.A., but will be in New York for next week's draft.