Ten upperclassmen with first-round draft potential

	See you in the pros? Pitt's Aaron Gray and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker are two seniors drawing serious first-round attention. John Biever/SI
	Seniors in the NBA Draft Year Seniors drafted in the first round 2006 8 2005 10 2004 4 2003 9 2002 7

College seniors played a big part in the first round of the past two NBA drafts. That isn't likely to be the case this June.

Last year, the NBA's recently imposed rule prohibiting players entering the draft directly from high school affected the draft for the first time. Partly as a result, eight college seniors were chosen in the first round, including such blue-chip prospects as Brandon Roy of Washington, Shelden Williams of Duke and Randy Foye of Villanova.

Truth be told, the trend toward experience over potential had already begun before the age limit demanded it. In 2005, the group of 11 high school players available didn't wow NBA scouts, and just three were chosen in the first round. That year, 10 college seniors, including current NBA starters Channing Frye (New York) and Danny Granger (Indiana), were among the 30 first-round picks.

But youth still tantalizes. And right now, as the scouting staffs of NBA teams are busy evaluating college and international players for the '07 NBA Draft, set for June 28 in New York, most of the intrigue among fans and media discussing the draft centers on this question: Which of the talented underclassmen currently lighting up college arenas will enter the draft this year?

Since most of the next few months will be spent dissecting the younger players, let's give the college seniors a little love in the midst of the cold winter. Here is an early look at 10 seniors likely to draw the strongest first-round consideration.

Morris Almond, 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, guard, Rice

If Almond's name doesn't ring a bell with you, it's probably because the Owls (10-9) don't receive much national television coverage. But there probably hasn't been a shooting guard with both this type of NBA-ready frame and this type of sweet 3-point shooting stroke since Allan Houston was picked 11th by the Pistons out of Tennessee in 1993. After averaging 21.9 points per game as a junior, Almond tested the draft waters and was invited to the '06 NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando, where he scored well, including a 24-point showing in one game.

Almond made a great decision to return to college for his senior year, and he has been among the nation's leading scorers all season, checking in at 27.4 ppg through Saturday. Almond is hitting 43 percent from 3-point range, but he's more than just a standstill catch-and-shoot guy. He knows how to work off screens and get to the basket, and once there, he uses his body well to draw fouls. He also uses his size to help out on the boards, averaging a career-best 6.6 rebounds per game. But what Almond does best is fill the basket, as he did when he dropped 44 points on a very good Vanderbilt team to ring in the New Year.

Aaron Gray, 7-0, 275, center, Pittsburgh

Like Almond, Gray considered a move to the NBA last season, but decided to return and help Pittsburgh (19-3, 7-1 in Big East) make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament. Playing on a talented, balanced, yet young team, Gray is not delivering huge numbers (14.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg), but he is leading his team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots (1.6 bpg) and field goal percentage (57.3 percent) and has improved his shooting and passing measurably since last season.

Gray is not an elite athlete, but he has size that you can't teach, a solid work ethic and a track record of getting better every year he's been at Pitt. In an era when most NBA teams resort to double-teaming the post due to a lack of size in the middle, Gray is one of the few true centers in the college game who can hold his own on both ends of the court. The NBA team that selects Gray will have to be one that prefers a patterned halfcourt game, where Gray is at his best.