TAMPA - Former USF center Kentrell Gransberry recently gave his thoughts on who he would take as the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
The two-round, 60-player NBA Draft will be held this Thursday (June 26) in New York at the Wamu Theatre in Madison Square Garden.
Gransberry, who is a potential second round selection, says he would take Kansas State's Michael Beasley as the No. 1 pick if he were the General Manager of the Chicago Bulls, the team who owns the first overall selection in the draft. Barring any last minute trades or surprises, the Bulls are deciding between Beasley and Memphis guard Derrick Rose.
Gransberry has been able to get an up-close look at Beasley. They are both represented by Joel Bell and have been working out together in Philadelphia since April 29. Potential first round pick DeAndre Jordan is also represented by Bell and has been a part of the workouts.
"In my eyes, yes, he's hands down the No. 1 pick," says Gransberry. "No one can convince me otherwise. No offense to Derrick Rose, but I'm taking Michael. Just seeing first hand some of the stuff he can do, inside and outside. He's an amazing kid, amazing athlete, tough."
Gransberry has had a good experience with Beasley and Jordan.
"The are both very gifted athletes, good kids, funny guys," added Gransberry. "I'm sitting where the GM's are sitting. I'm not surprised he is going to be the first or second pick and Jordan being a potential top pick himself. They are very fun guys to be around."
In preperations for the draft Gransberry has worked out for the Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, New Jersey Nets, Seattle SuperSonics, Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers, and may still workout for the Toronto Raptors. He has already participated in two pre-draft camps, the NBA Pre-Draft camp (May 27-30) and the Portsmouth Invitational (April 9-12).
Gransberry was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, the first USF player to earn first team honors in the three years the Bulls have been in the BIG EAST. He is also the first USF player to earn first team conference accolades since Altron Jackson in 2001 when the Bulls were in Conference USA. He was a second team all-conference selection last year.
The Baton Rouge, La., native averaged a double-double for the season at 16.0 points per game and 10.8 rebounds and led the BIG EAST in rebounding for the second straight season. He had 325 boards on the season, second on the USF single-season list, and was just the sixth USF player with 300 rebounds in a season.
Gransberry will go down in history as arguably the greatest rebounder in USF history and one of the top in BIG EAST conference play. Despite playing just one and a half seasons at USF, the big man ended his career with 588 rebounds in 53 games. He averaged 11.1 rebounds per game for his career, crushing the all-time USF per game average of 9.9, held by Gary Alexander (1989, 1991-92). He ended 15th on the all-time USF career list. Gransberry was also been dominant in league games, averaging 11.06 rebounds per game (374 rebounds) in 34 BIG EAST games and finished second all-time behind Providence's Michael Smith (11.66 - 1991-94, 630 rebounds in 54 games). Syracuse's Derrick Coleman is third all-time at 10.95 rebounds per game.
