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Rock, chalk, lottery Jayhawks Collison and Hinrich head to Seattle, ChicagoPosted: Thursday June 26, 2003 8:56 PMUpdated: Thursday June 26, 2003 10:08 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- By the time Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison came to Kansas, they had already been AAU teammates for two years. The two coaches' sons from Iowa played four years for the Jayhawks, becoming one of the most tightly linked duos in the program's long history. Now, after leading Kansas to two straight Final Four appearances, they're going their separate ways. The Chicago Bulls took Hinrich with the seventh overall pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, and Seattle took Collison five picks later. Hinrich, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from Sioux City, Iowa, was a third-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 selection this past year. He averaged 17.3 points in his senior season and finished second on Kansas' career assists list with 668. He was the team's most tenacious defender and also provided timely outside shooting for the Jayhawks, averaging 42.4 percent from 3-point range. He had worked out for Seattle, Golden State, the Clippers, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Washington and Miami. "He's a competitor," Collison said. "No matter who we were playing, he always put forth his best effort, and I know he'll be great for Chicago." Hinrich and forward Collison, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, had both weighed coming out early -- as forward Drew Gooden, now with Orlando, did -- after leading Kansas to the Final Four in 2002. Instead, both came back and led Kansas to the 2003 title game. "I think I showed them that I could play," Hinrich told ESPN after his selection. "I had really good workouts ... and I'm thrilled to be going to Chicago." The Bulls need a point guard, with Jay Williams expected to miss next season after breaking his pelvis and sustaining knee injuries in a motorcycle accident earlier this month. Hinrich played point guard early in his career at Kansas but switched to a swingman's role with the emergence of Aaron Miles two years ago. The 6-foot-9, 255-pound Collison, an AP All-American and the Big 12 Player of the Year, finished fourth in balloting for the Wooden Award as the nation's top player. He averaged 18.5 points, 10 rebounds and 1.8 blocks as a senior. He also demonstrated more range and versatility than in his first three seasons -- even stepping out to take 3-point shots on occasion. Collison also dramatically improved his strength during his junior and senior seasons. But in his ESPN interview Thursday night, he acknowledged he must still get stronger. "I'm just going to get in the weight room, try to get as strong as possible and learn every trick in the book on how to defend those guys," he said. Before the draft, Collison worked out for the Clippers, Golden State, Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York and Toronto. The Sonics took Collison three picks after New York passed him over for Georgetown's Michael Sweetney. "Once New York took Sweetney, I figured this was probably where I'd wind up," Collison said. "They (the Sonics) told me all along that if I was there, they'd take me." Durability wasn't an issue for either Hinrich or Collison at Kansas; Collison didn't miss a game in four years, and Hinrich missed only one. Mock drafts conducted before Thursday night predicted both Hinrich and Collison would be picked in the first round, but varied widely on just where they would be taken. Kansas last had two players taken in the first round in 1998, when Denver took Raef LaFrentz with the third pick and Boston took Paul Pierce with the 10th. The top three players taken, as expected, were high school phenom LeBron James, by Cleveland; Serbian big man Darko Milicic, by Detroit; and Syracuse forward Carmelo Anthony, who left Syracuse after one year -- and an NCAA title win over Kansas.
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