Bogut’s departure leaves a hole in middle of Mountain West

Friday, July 1, 2005 | 9:44 a.m.

Australian players chosen in the NBA draft:

Eight Mountain West Conference coaches must have been very pleased with the NBA draft this week.

Although Andrew Bogut had hired an agent and was widely penciled in as the draft's top pick, for the Milwaukee Bucks, the conference's top scorer and rebounder officially entered the professional ranks Tuesday.

To the Bucks, at No. 1.

In his second season with the Utah Utes, Bogut blossomed. His 25 double-doubles led the country, and he was the consensus college player of the year.

Thank you, Rick Majerus. Although Majerus plucked Bogut out of Melbourne, Australia, Bogut likely would not have returned to Salt Lake City for a sophomore campaign if Majerus hadn't retired, for health reasons, at the end of 2003-04.

In pre-draft yapping, Majerus brought to light a possible vision problem about Bogut, who said a rough cornea might cause him problems ... when he's 60 or 70.

(Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register then produced the line of the draft, when he noted that the Bucks put Bogut on a plane to test his vision. He passed, Whicker wrote, when he spotted Majerus, on the ground, from 30,000 feet over Milwaukee.)

Dale Layer, who watched Bogut average 26 points and 17 boards against his Colorado State squad last season, must have been at the head of the Mountain West line of coaches not disappointed to see Bogut move on.

As the dust settles on the draft, departures, coaching changes, transfers and recruits, the Mountain West might be one of the most difficult conferences to call 3 1/2 months before practice begins in the fall.

It's so challenging that we will not attempt to call it in order. Instead, with the addition of Texas Christian University, we will conveniently lop it into a top third, middle third and bottom third, with a note on each.

Top three

New coach Jeff Bzdelik -- yes, the former Denver Nuggets coach who owns 25 years of coaching experience -- has vowed to run an enhanced version of the Princeton system.

At the Academy, that's very wise. Even better, Nick Welch and Antoine Hood are among the four starters who return.

What isn't to like about the league's top two returning scorers, Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter, playing on the same team? Like the Falcons, most of the players who started are also back.

If this group learns how to be more unselfish, watch out.

In just one year, coach Lon Kruger is nearly entirely responsible for his roster. That factor, and Michael Umeh, make the Rebels dangerous.

"Your second year is always a bit smoother," Kruger said. "This group will have a much better idea of what to expect, going in. As far as group chemistry, they will be much closer. I think they're excited about getting started."

Middle three

The only team with five players among the league's top 20 scorers loses three of them. Keep an eye, though, on senior forward Dave Chiotti.

Yes, Bogut is gone. So is Marc Jackson, the gritty defender and hard-nosed point man. And Justin Hawkins zipped outta town to New Mexico State.

But coach Ray Giacoletti will keep the Utes from plummeting, with help from Tim Drisdom and Bryant Markson.

Kruger is well aware of the Carolina system that Horned Frogs coach Neil Dougherty was taught by Roy Williams at Kansas. "Neil does a terrific job," Kruger said. "They run a lot of motion, and they do it very well."

Bottom three

New coach Dave Rose has a certified star in junior guard Austin Ainge, but there's not much else in the Cougars' cupboard.

Matt Nelson finally leaves after seven seasons of eligibility. Or was it eight?

Somebody, please, get eighth-year coach Steve McClain a good barber, some Ridolin and someone to replace Jay Straight.

(Coach, just kiddin' about those first two items.)

Michael -- like his wife, Ann -- moved with his family to Australia from Croatia and ran a carburetor shop for 20 years. It was next to that shop, on a metal rim against a brick wall, where young Andrew first took his first basketball shots.

Bogut cherishes his Croatian heritage, having religiously studied video tapes of Hall of Famer Drazen Petrovic, who died in a 1993 car accident.

He also thanked coaches who cut him when he was 14, from the under-16 Dandenong Rangers club team, and 15, from his state's junior team.

"(Those cuts) made me work hard to be better than everybody else," Bogut told The Daily Telegraph in Australia. "I worked harder than any young basketballer in Australia."

And he said his name would not be found on police blotters.

"I'm not going to be straying off the court," he told the Telegraph. "I'm not some gangster. I'm going to lay low, be a family-type guy, not be stupid with it, do something stupid with girls or drugs and be on the front page of the New York Times."