FIRST ROUND? SE'S ELEY AMONG TOP NBA PROSPECTS

The start of Southeast Missouri State University's basketball season is still more than two months away but senior William "Bud" Eley is already drawing plenty of national attention.

Eley, the Indians' 6-foot-10, 240-pound center, is ranked 19th out of 75 players on the `Don Leventhal NBA Draft Report' that was recently published.

A native of Detroit, Mich., Eley averaged 17.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while blocking 37 shots and shooting 53 percent from the field last season. As a sophomore, he averaged 17.4 points and 13.2 rebounds while shooting 54 percent. He attended Southeast but did not play as a freshman under NCAA proposition 48 guidelines.

Leventhal, one of several people and publications that focus on the NBA draft, is highly respected in his field. He appears on the Internet on the popular ESPN Sports Zone and is also on ESPN radio. He has been publishing his annual draft report, which comes in three parts, since 1985.

According to Leventhal, who is based in the Philadelphia suburb of Willow Grove, his list of top 75 players that appears on his current report consists of players who either definitely will or might be available for the 1998 NBA draft.

"Within this list are a bunch of underclassmen. There are also a lot of good underclassmen who aren't on the list, mainly because I felt like they weren't ready to come out and probably wouldn't," he said. "I publish three separate reports and this is the first one. It'll change a great deal. A lot of the guys will go up, a lot will go down."

Leventhal's list is based on various factors, including consultations with NBA coaches and scouts. He said Eley's name should pop up on most lists of the top NBA prospects for the next draft and he firmly believes that Eley has the opportunity to become a first-round draft choice.

"He'll be a guy on most lists, because of his height, weight, strength and the numbers he's put up so far," Leventhal said. "At this time I feel pretty strongly he'll be a first-round pick. He's big and strong, he's a good athlete, he scores inside, he blocks a few shots. Everything where he's concerned has him pointed in the right direction.

"The NBA is saying right now, `We're inviting you to be a first-round pick.' On one side of the door is Southeast Missouri State. On the other side is the NBA draft. Now it's up to Bud to walk through that door. He's gotten himself noticed, he's impressed people. Now it's up to him to take the next step."

Some mighty impressive players are at the top of Leventhal's current list, with Kansas' 6-10 Raef LaFrentz first and his 6-7 teammate Paul Pierce second. Also included in the top 10 are North Carolina's Antwan Jamison and Vince Carter and Arizona's Mike Bibby and Miles Simon.

Leventhal said that most NBA people are looking at Eley as a power forward. Eley has primarily played close to the basket at Southeast.

"That means he'll have to bring his game out a bit. But still there have been plenty of power forwards who have never shot outside, who are strictly inside players," he said.

Leventhal cautioned that plenty could change during the season and, for someone who plays at a lower-level school like Eley, next year's pre-draft camps will be extremely important.

"In the NBA, how it works, is unless you finish the season as one of the top 10 players, the season is only a small part of the evaluation," he said. "You have to really impress people at the pre-draft camps."

Another factor is that Eley could perhaps be in line for an extra season at Southeast. A fairly new NCAA rule says that, if an athlete who entered school as a Prop 48 is able to graduate within four years, then he or she can regain the season of eligibility that was lost as a freshman.