Singletary holding out hope

By Whitey Reid

Published: June 26, 2008

When navigating the Internet in search of NBA mock drafts, it’s downright impossible to find a single one that has Virginia’s Sean Singletary going in the first round.
Good thing Singletary doesn’t put any stock in them.
“You can never really look at those mock drafts,” said Singletary, during a phone interview from Philadelphia on Wednesday. “Only the first two or three picks are usually right.”
Although it might seem like a bit of a long shot, Singletary remains hopeful that he will be among the first 30 players selected in tonight’s annual draft in New York City.
“There’s a chance,” said Singletary, a three-time first-team All-ACC honoree at UVa. “You just don’t know how good of a chance it’s going to be.”
Memphis’ Derrick Rose, USC’s O.J. Mayo, Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless and Texas’ D.J. Augustin are expected to be the first guards drafted. All except Augustin are 6-foot-3 or taller.
Augustin is considered a “consummate” point guard – a player with a great feel for the game who can make other guys better.
That’s what the biggest question about the 6-foot Singletary seems to be. At Virginia, he was relied on so much as a scorer that NBA personnel wonder about his playmaking skills.
“He’s a high-scoring point guard, which I think gives people some questions as to how he can distribute it,” agreed Virginia coach Dave Leitao, “but as I’ve explained to everybody — that was his job here and it’s not like he can’t do it. I think he’s a very good and intelligent passer.”
NBA front-office types also worry about Singletary’s size and durability.
However, there have been plenty of diminutive players that have been drafted pretty high in recent years, including Singletary’s Philadelphia buddy Kyle Lowry (Villanova), Jameer Nelson (Saint Joseph’s) and Nate Robinson (Washington).
Singletary declared for 2007 draft but returned to Virginia after realizing he probably wasn’t going to be selected in the first round (only first-round contracts are guaranteed). He says going through the process last year helped him out a lot this year.
“I was comfortable; more prepared,” Singletary said, “because I had already went through it.”
ESPN’s Chad Ford, who has one of the most respected mock drafts, has Singletary getting drafted in the second round (with the 53rd overall pick) by Utah. Ford writes: “The Virginia guard is a favorite of Jazz [general manger] Kevin O’Connor. He’s a talented scorer and distributor — kind of in the [former Illinois guard] Dee Brown model.”
Singletary feels good about his recent workout with the Jazz.
“But I had a lot of good workouts,” he added. “I thought my best were in Indiana, Charlotte, Utah, Detroit and Sacramento.”
Singletary says he
performed well in multiple workouts against guard Mario Chalmers. The Kansas guard is projected by Ford to be the 12th overall pick.
“It’s such a cat-and-mouse game,” Leitao said. “One of the things I’ve realized about those draft boards and web sites — they’re all driven by entities that have really little or no connection to the NBA.
“I think when you start getting into that late first round or early second round, it could be anybody.”
Leitao has spoken to several NBA teams about Singletary. Some, according to Leitao, are seriously considering him in the first round.
“It’s like I keep telling him,” Leitao said, “all you have to do is get one team to like you and love what you’re doing and sees how you can fit in.”
Singletary, whose agent is Raymond Brothers — he also represents NBA players Jamal Tinsley, Zach Randolph, Caron Butler and Ben Gordon — hasn’t even thought (as some people have speculated he might be) about starting his career in Europe.
“I know I’ll get drafted,” he said. “It just depends on where. It could be anywhere from the middle of the first round to the middle of the second round. We’ll see.”
As confident and calm about the situation as Singletary seems to be, he admitted he probably won’t watch the draft on television. He said he’s going to sit back, try to relax and wait for an NBA team to call him with some good news.
“I don’t want to be upset if I see all those [other] guys going,” said Singletary, with a laugh. “I’m just going to chill with my parents and grandmother, and when I get a phone call, I’ll turn [the television] on.”