The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB's Taylor Awaits Draft Day
6/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 27, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - All he wants to hear is his name, but not from just anyone. He wants to hear it from NBA Commissioner David Stern. Funny how those two little words will be the most joyous things Donell Taylor has heard in quite sometime. That is if he hears them.
If those words are said Tuesday night (on ESPN with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. CT) during the 2005 NBA Draft in New York's Madison Square Garden, Donell Taylor will become the first UAB Blazer to be drafted since Reginald Turner's named was called in the second round of the 1989 draft.
Taylor just wants to be picked.
"It doesn't matter, as long as my name gets called," he said, in the midst of a grueling, three week tour of duty jumping from NBA city to city, working out for potential new employers. "I'm lucky to be in a position to be drafted, but it will be real thrill to hear my name called."
Taylor has worked out for a dozen or more NBA teams over the last three weeks, including two stops in Houston. He has also worked out for Utah, Memphis, Minnesota, the Lakers and the Clippers, among others.
"I get up, work out, get on a plane to fly to another city, then do it all over again," he explained. "The workouts are really no different from UAB workouts, though. They're just a little bit longer. There's been lots of shooting and ball-handling, plus some one-on-one and two-on-two games."
And about his expectations of being drafted?
"They're real good," he said. "I'm hearing late first or early second round, but you don't really know."
If Taylor is not among the 60 players picked in Tuesday's draft, he is a virtual lock to be gobbled up as an undrafted free agent and sign with an NBA team. While he was not invited to the pre-draft camp in Chicago, an informal indicator of the likelihood a prospect will be drafted, several media outlets think Taylor will be one of the handful of non-Chicago invitees picked Tuesday.
Collegehoopsnet.com has Taylor going to the Toronto Raptors with the 58th, or second-to-last pick, overall. Nbadraft.net's mock selections have him going to Phoenix one pick earlier at 57 overall.
UAB has had 14 players drafted in its history with one of those players (Larry Spicer) drafted twice for a total of 15 all-time selections. In addition to Turner, Oliver Robinson and Steve Mitchell are the highest Blazer draft picks with all three being taken in the second round. Robinson became the highest overall UAB player ever selected when he was taken by the San Antonio Spurs with the 24th pick, or first selection of the second round, in 1982. Mitchell (2nd round, 12th pick) was taken 36th overall by the then-Washington Bullets in 1986. Turner (2nd round, 20th pick) was the 47th overall pick of the Denver Nuggets in 1989.
All-Time UAB NBA Draft Picks
1979 - Larry Spicer - Milwaukee Bucks (8th Round/9th Pick/156th Overall)
1979 - Keith McCord - Philadelphia 76ers (10th Round/14th Pick/198th Overall)
1980 - Larry Spicer - New Jersey Nets (7th Round/6th Pick/144th Overall)
1981 - Glenn Marcus - Cleveland Cavaliers (8th Round/5th Pick/166th Overall)
1982 - Oliver Robinson - San Antonio Spurs (2nd Round/1st Pick/24th Overall)
1982 - Norm Anchrum - New York Knicks (4th Round/6th Pick/75th Overall)
1982 - Chris Giles - New Jersey Nets (5th Round/13th Pick/105th Overall)
1982 - Donnie Speer - Denver Nuggets (8th Round/17th Pick/178th Overall)
1983 - Cliff Pruitt - Indiana Pacers (6th Round/2nd Pick/118th Overall)
1983 - Lex Drum - Atlanta Hawks (7th Round/11th Pick/150th Overall)
1984 - McKinley Singleton - Milwaukee Bucks (6th Round/4th Pick/120th Overall)
1986 - Steve Mitchell - Washington Bullets (2nd Round/12th Pick/36th Overall)
1986 - Jerome Mincy - New York Knicks (5th Round/1st Pick/94th Overall)
1986 - Archie Johnson - New Jersey Nets (5th Round/12th Pick/105th Overall)
1989 - Reginald Turner - Denver Nuggets (2nd Round/20th Pick/47th Overall)
