Ex-Warrior Savovic not picked in NBA draft
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
If there's one thing that doesn't affect Predrag Savovic, it's missed shots.
So when the former University of Hawai'i basketball star was not selected in yesterday's NBA Draft, he vowed to keep shooting.
"That's how life goes," Savovic said. "You have challenges every day, and this is just another. I'll be fine."
Savovic, a 6-foot-6, 212-pound shooting guard, was in New York's Madison Square Garden last night, expecting to become the first UH player drafted by an NBA team since Reggie Cross in 1989.
Instead, his name was not among the 57 called in the two rounds of the draft.
"I really didn't put any thought into where I might or might not go," Savovic said. "I was prepared to hear my name in the first round, and I was prepared to not hear my name at all."
Savovic had been projected in several mock drafts to go anywhere from late in the first round to late in the second. Only 12 players from UH have ever been drafted by NBA teams, including just two in the first round (Bob Nash in 1972 and Tom Henderson in 1974).
"I'm not disappointed in what happened," said Savovic, who is originally from Yugoslavia. "I guess I'm more disappointed for the people who were hoping something was going to happen for me."
Marc Cornstein, Savovic's New York-based agent, was already working on free-agent tryouts for Savovic moments after the draft. As of last night, Cornstein said he talked to "about 10" NBA teams, although he did not expect any deals to be settled by today.
"It's disappointing, obviously," Cornstein said. "But what this is going to do is make it all the more satisfying when Predrag gets his chance to show what he can do."
Cornstein said he has also received "firm offers" for Savovic from several European teams.
"I'm confident something will happen," Savovic said. "I'll play somewhere. I just don't know where right now."
Cornstein said Savovic's advanced age (26) may have been the deciding factor yesterday. No other player drafted was older than 24.
Still, UH head coach Riley Wallace said he was "very surprised" that Savovic was not selected.
"All the people I talked to said it was one of the strangest drafts ever," said Wallace, who attended the draft with Savovic. "Guys who were not expected to go got called, and guys who were expected to go didn't."
In the weeks leading up to the draft, Savovic conducted private workouts for 15 of the 29 NBA teams. He was also the fifth-leading scorer at the prestigious NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago earlier this month.
"Most of the teams out there know he can play," Cornstein said. "We'll just have to find the right situation."
As Wallace put it: "If you don't go in the first round, sometimes you're better off not to go in the second round. (Savovic) can choose where he wants to go now."
Savovic is the fourth-leading scorer in UH history with 1,414 points. He is also UH's all-time leader in 3-pointers (178) and the only 'Bow to be named to the All-Western Athletic Conference first team twice.
Among the players drafted yesterday were three former Fresno State Bulldogs: Melvin Ely (1st round, Los Angeles Clippers, 12th overall), Chris Jefferies (1st round, Toronto through trade with Lakers, 27th overall) and Tito Maddox (2nd round, Houston, 38th overall).
Also, 14 players from foreign countries were drafted, including three Yugoslavians.
"Things happen you can not control," Savovic said. "I felt like I did everything I could. I'm satisfied with everything I did. There's nothing I can look back and say I want to change."
