Posted on: Saturday, June 8, 2002

Savovic now awaits June 26 NBA draft

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Representatives from every NBA team now know about Predrag Savovic's scoring ability.

Whether or not that's impressive enough to get him selected in the June 26 NBA Draft remains to be seen.

Savovic, the star guard on last season's record-setting University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, completed a self-described "great" week in Chicago yesterday during the NBA Pre-Draft Camp. He was one of 65 of the top draft-eligible players invited to participate in the four-day camp.

"Overall, I think I helped myself a lot," said Savovic, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard who is originally from Yugoslavia. "Many people I talked to said I did the job I needed to do."

Scouts and coaches from all 29 NBA teams were in attendance.

In three scrimmages, Savovic scored 44 points in approximately 56 minutes of action. In yesterday's final scrimmage, Savovic scored eight points in just 11 minutes. He said playing time was distributed equally among all the players.

"For the time I was in there, I think I did OK," he said. "I was feeling good with my shot all week, so I would have liked to play more minutes, but everybody had to get in, so it was fair."

Wake Forest forward Darius Songaila said: "Everybody said Savo could shoot and he did that. He's a very good player."

Songaila, who is originally from Lithuania, was Savovic's roommate and teammate this week.

ESPN college basketball analyst Andy Katz listed Savovic as one of "Five to Watch" players before the camp. Last night, Katz said Savovic performed well enough in Chicago to move "on the bubble" of the first round.

"I think he showed that he's capable of shooting the ball from NBA range," Katz said. "I think he helped himself. He definitely didn't hurt himself."

In a mock draft before the camp, Katz projected Savovic to be the 23rd pick of the first round by the Detroit Pistons. Katz said he will probably drop Savovic to the second round in his next mock draft.

"But that has nothing to do with how (Savovic) did in Chicago," Katz said. "It was just that some other guys jumped ahead."

Other mock drafts project Savovic to go anywhere from late in the first round to late in the second round.

"I don't think about that," Savovic said. "I feel confident about my chances, but I know that it's not up to me. I know there's a chance I might not get picked at all."

Not all of Savovic's reviews were glorious. According to Katz, some scouts described Savovic as "one-dimensional," and, some teams are apparently concerned with his age (26).

"I, personally, don't think that should be a factor," Katz said. "But some teams would rather take a 20-year-old."

Savovic was an honorable mention All-America selection last season, when he averaged 20.3 points per game as a senior at UH. He was also a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference first-team selection.

After three seasons at UH, Savovic finished fourth in all-time scoring (1,414 points) and first in 3-pointers (178). He was also an academic All-American, and earned his degree in finance and international business last month.