Stewart gets his pro shot

Steve Carp

Friday, June 27, 1997 | 11:17 a.m.

For Kebu Stewart, his second chance paid off.

Sort of.

The former UNLV center who transferred to Cal State Bakersfield two years ago will get the chance to realize his dream of playing in the NBA. The 6-foot-8 Stewart was taken early in the second round of Wednesday's draft by Philadelphia, the 36th pick overall.

He becomes the first player with ties to UNLV to be drafted since 1993 when Isaiah (J.R.) Rider was taken at No. 5 in the first round by Minnesota.

Stewart could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Stewart had applied to enter last year's draft, but decided against it and withdrew his name. The Brooklyn native had an outstanding senior year, averaging 21.5 points, 13 rebounds and shooting 57 percent from the floor to lead Bakersfield to the NCAA Division II title.

For his efforts, Stewart was named the Player of the Year in Division II.

He parlayed those honors by putting together outstanding performances at two NBA predraft camps. He was the MVP of the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational in April, then followed that up by making the all-tournament team at the Nike Desert Classic in Phoenix a few weeks later.

Off those two efforts, many believed Stewart was going to be a first-round pick, something he hoped would have been achieved when he agreed to attend UNLV in 1992 to play for then-coach Rollie Massimino.

However, Stewart was not taken in the first round. Chicago reportedly had been interested and the Bulls could have selected him with the final pick in the first round at No. 28. Instead, they took Maryland's Keith Booth.

But Stewart doesn't really measure 6-8. He was listed in the graphics on Wednesday's televised coverage of the draft at 6-6. It may have contributed to his dropping out of the first round to No. 36.

"He's really athletic and he can rebound," Sixers coach Larry Brown told the Philadelphia Daily News when asked about Stewart. "But he's actually closer to 6-7, so he's a little undersized."

When asked about Stewart's chances of making the ballclub, Brown told the Daily News, "It's a crapshoot. Obviously, they had three picks in the second round last year.

"We started to get excited about these picks. But the more you realize it, it is the second round ... nobody knows."

A member of the 76ers staff said Stewart would not be brought in to talk to the media until the eight-player trade with New Jersey was finalized.

The Nets and Sixers swapped first-round picks with Keith Van Horn going to New Jersey and Tim Thomas and Anthony Parker headed to Philadelphia. In addition, the Nets would acquire veterans Michael Cage and Don MacLean along with former Long Beach State standout Lucious Harris.

In addition to Thomas and Parker, the Sixers would receive Eric Montross and Jim Jackson to complete the eight-player swap.