Friday, May 13, 2005 | 10:02 a.m.
Being a Chicago native, it would be especially disheartening for Odartey Blankson if he does not get invited to the NBA pre-draft camp, June 7-10, at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.
Apparently, the former UNLV forward did not impress many at last month's Portsmouth Invitational to warrant an invitation to Chicago.
"He was pretty disappointing," said Jonathan Givony, DraftCity.com's director of scouting.
Some of that can be attributed to Blankson playing on a team, MD Designs, with Will Conroy, Jason Maxiell and Ivan McFarlin -- all of whom Givony listed as top-10 performers in Portsmouth.
That trio dominated in its first two games. Then Blankson scored 20 of his team's 125 points in its third game, according to Givony, but he called many of those points "quiet," set up by Conroy.
"(There was) nothing that would indicate that he can create his own shot, with his limited ball-handling skills, at the next level," Givony said of Blankson. "I think he's going to have to make a living in Europe next year, where the fact the he's essentially an undersized power forward won't hurt him as much.
"He's a good basketball player, but (he) probably just isn't big, skilled or athletic enough for the NBA."
Portsmouth first team
According to Givony, followed by his comments
Will Conroy (Washington) -- Dropped 16 assists in 21 minutes in the final day ... can get into the lane and score when he wants to ... more concerned with getting all of his teammates involved. Last time I checked, that's what a PG is supposed to do.
Jackie Manuel (North Carolina) -- He showed off some offensive skills that no one knew he had in him ... probably the most athletic player at this tournament, or at least the player who showed off the most athleticism in every thing he did.
Mindaugas Katelynas (Chattanooga) -- The sleeper prospect from this tournament ... almost ruined by being played at (power forward) and (center) his entire career, but still has all the physical attributes and skills you look for in an NBA (small forward) ... has a great chance at being drafted.
Jason Maxiell (Cincinnati) -- Looked like a mini-Shaq at times, except he has a range out to 18 feet and showed it extensively ... despite his lack of size, there is certainly a place for him in the league as an energy type to bring off the bench.
Jared Homan (Iowa State) -- Does a lot of things very well and he's got pretty good size ... very physical, but (he) also has good skills, including a nice mid-range jumper, some moves inside and a hook shot to finish over bigger players ... made the extra pass when needed and showed an all-business attitude every minute he played.
Oops
Givony, as did three other e-mailers, were quick to correct this space two weeks ago when we mistakenly called Texas Tech guard Ronald Ross a junior.
Portsmouth is a seniors-only event. So Ross, obviously, won't be in the equation when coach Bobby Knight brings his Red Raiders to play UNLV in the Thomas & Mack Center next season.
That's what happens when the wrong reference guide gets hastily picked. The orange Lambourghini Countach must have been double-parked. Givony reported that Ross had a "nightmare" showing in Portsmouth.
"He may have hurt his chances at getting an invite to Chicago with the way he played," Givony said. "He didn't show too much in terms of point-guard skills, either, and that probably hurts him more than the fact that his shot wasn't falling for him."
No oops
To the three dozen e-mailers and one phone caller -- thanks, Marilyn -- who contacted yours truly when North Carolina won it all, the attention was appreciated.
However, you missed the point.
In this space before the NCAA Tournament, the opinion was that the many pundits, scribes and other lackeys who were certain that three Atlantic Coast Conference teams would play in the Final Four were full of themselves.
And what happened? Only Carolina made it. The Big East, circa 1985, is still the lone league to be represented by three teams in the Final Four.
Am I also supposed to believe that all you Duke fans were simply elated that the Tar Heels won the national championship? No.
This college hoops column, by the way, will appear every other week during the offseason.
Kudos ACC, again
Two weeks after Carolina's triumph, Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage, the first black athletic director in the conference's history, hired Dave Leitao to coach the Cavaliers' basketball team.
Leitao is the first black head coach of any sport at Virginia.
"My goal was to hire the best coach," Littlepage said at the news conference in Charlottesville, "pure and simple."
Leitao, a longtime assistant to Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, was 58-34 in three seasons as coach at DePaul.
"It will be a great honor not only to be the basketball coach," Leitao said, "but to be a torchbearer for the future at such a critical time in the athletic department's history."
Virginia is scheduled to open the 15,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena, which cost $130 million, in the fall of 2006.
Lieutenant candidate
UNLV coach Lon Kruger confirmed that Creighton associate head coach Greg Grensing is one of several likely candidates to replace Marvin Menzies.
Menzies recently accepted an offer to join Louisville coach Rick Pitino's staff.
Grensing and Creighton coach Dana Altman worked for Kruger for three seasons at Kansas State in the late 1980s. Altman left Marshall to replace Kruger in Manhattan, Kan., in 1990, and Altman kept Grensing on at Kansas State.
Grensing, 47, has worked under Atlman since then and was in town last weekend -- as were other assistant candidates, Kruger said -- for a coaching clinic.
Kruger said he likely will not hire a new coach until June 1.
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