From NBADraftBlog.com

Draft fans and pundits everywhere always love the story of the small school guy who gets his dream and is chosen in the NBA Draft. However, Damian Lillard, out of Weber State, is not your typical small school player. Lillard was under-recruited coming out of high school, so Weber State ended up being his destination.

It didn’t take long for Lillard to make an impact, and by the middle of his sophomore year, he was on the NBA’s radar, and high school recruiting “experts” were trying to figure out what went wrong. A natural scorer, Lillard showed that he could do much more – distribute, rebound, play tough defense, and make people talk about Weber State again.

Bouncing back from an injury last year, Lillard picked up right where he left off and he became a must-see player for basketball fans all over the country. Proving all he could in college, Lillard decided to bypass his senior season and enter the NBA Draft.

I had the opportunity to talk to Lillard, while he is in his hometown of Oakland preparing for NBA workouts, about his game, leaving school and more.

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Here are a few highlights from Damian Lillard’s 2012 season at Weber State. Damian is currently listed as the highest rated point guard in this year’s NBA draft class by most of the reputable NBA draft draft analysis sites and publications.

Prior to joining the Spurs this season, Patty Mills worked hard to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered while playing in China. Here’s a look at some of the work her put in with ASTI training before he joined the Spurs.

Here’s a look at the 9th episode from Nate Robinson’s hit web series, “State of Nate”:

On Saturday night, Tina Thompson was officially inducted into the University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame at the 2012 Trojan Hall of Fame induction dinner. Tina is a women’s basketball icon for her success at USC, the Olympics and the WNBA.

At Troy, Thompson was a first team All-American in 1997. She sits fifth all-time in the Trojan record books in scoring and rebounding.

After leaving USC, she became the first player ever drafted into the WNBA. In her 15 years in the league, Thompson has made the all-star team nine times and won four consecutive titles with the Houston Comets.

The WNBA legend is the only player to compete in every season of the league’s history. She is the all-time leader in points and games played.

Teaming with fellow Trojan Lisa Leslie, Thompson has brought home gold twice from the Olympics in 2004 and 2008.

This year’s Trojan Athletic Hall of Fame class also included Art Bartner, Lindsay Benko, Steve Bisheff, Tony Boselli, Clarence Davis, Barbara Hallquist, Barbara Hedges, Bob Hughes, Wayne Hughes, Bryan Ivie, Keyshawn Johnson, Randy Johnson, Jill McGill, Forrest Twogood, Quincy Watts and Adrian Young

Matt Barnes lifted his practice jersey to show the tattoo he has of his mother, Ann, across his abdomen.

It’s actually something the Lakers forward refers to as “a mural” – her image, with wings of an angel attached. He had it put there two years ago.

“This keeps her around,” he said.

Four years ago this November,Barnes started a foundation and website called Athletes vs. Cancer (www.athletesvscancer.org). That coincided with the anniversary of the Nov. 27, 2007, passing of Ann Barnes just five days after Thanksgiving and 26 days after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.

Mother’s Day doesn’t get any easier for the former UCLA star living in Redondo Beach. But knowing he’s done more to help others get checked early for cancer and perhaps prevent the kind of pain the 32-year-old oncewent through can make himfeel as if he’s doing something productive for hismom’s memory.

Barnes discussed this special day and his foundation after a recent Lakers practice:

QUESTION: What has Mother’s Day meant to you over the last couple of years?

ANSWER: You never want to say you take your mom for granted because you think she’ll always be there. That’s just the kind of sense you have. I think the day means more now. She was my best friend, someone who I could confide in, who had the answers. She was always everybody’s mom when I was growing up. The whole neighborhood it seemed relied on her as a mother figure. Mother’s Day now is a lot more special to me than maybe it used to be.

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Damian Lillard wants to be on a Top 10 list and he isn’t thinking about the Late Show with David Letterman.

“I think I can get drafted in the top 10,” Lillard says. “That’s my goal, that’s where I want to get drafted at and it’s possible, so I’m just going to do everything in my power to make it happen.”

The two-time Big Sky Conference MVP has already defied the odds to become a consensus first-round NBA draft pick out of Weber State, a school that has never had a first round pick.

The Big Sky has only had two first-round picks in its history; Lillard is projected to be the highest draft selection from the league since Michael “Sugar” Ray Richardson went fourth overall in 1978 — 12 years before Lillard was born.

The NBA Draft will take place on June 28 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and the former Weber State standout hopes to be there. Projected lottery picks are invited to the “green room” to wait for their name to be called by NBA commissioner David Stern.

Since announcing on April 4 that he would forgo his senior season at Weber State, Lillard has been in his hometown of Oakland, working out four to five hours a day, five days a week, with a trainer and a strength coach.

He also hired an agent, Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management, and expects to work out for seven or eight teams before the draft. Lillard has also been invited to the NBA draft combine in Chicago, another chance to turn heads in NBA front offices.

“I just want to show them my athleticism,” Lillard said. “I know they know that I’m athletic but I don’t think they know how athletic. In the interviews, I want them to know what kind of person I am and what I value.”

The off-court interviews with NBA execs don’t stress Lillard.

“I don’t have to prepare for that, I’ve just gotta be myself,” he said. “I know that being myself is good enough for them.”

NBA insiders are already impressed by what they saw during Lillard’s junior season at Weber State, where he was the second-leading scorer in the nation.

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Former NBA All-Star, 2000 Olympic gold medalist and third overall selection in the 1996 NBA Draft Shareef Abdur-Rahim can now add “college graduate” to his impressive resume.

Abdur-Rahim will graduate Monday, May 14 from the University of California at Berkeley – the school where he played his freshman season of NCAA basketball. He’ll receive his degree in Sociology having recorded a 3.8 grade point average.

Entering the NBA following his freshmen year at Cal, Abdur-Rahim continued to pursue his education through off-season summer courses as well as extension programs during his NBA playing schedule. He played 12 seasons in the NBA with the Vancouver Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings.

Abdur-Rahim announced his retirement as a NBA player in September of 2008 and immediately joined the Kings coaching staff. After two years of coaching, he was promoted to the position of assistant general manager with the organization.

With education as his longstanding focus, Abdur-Rahim launched the Future Foundation in 2001 in his home state of Georgia. Through its mission, the foundation continues to provide support systems for Atlanta’s disadvantaged youth in order to increase their options for post-secondary education.

Since its inception 11 years ago, the foundation has enjoyed great success due to Abdur-Rahim’s support, guidance and passion for education. Future Foundation’s teen center in Atlanta boasts a 100 percent graduation rate.

“Much of my work outside basketball has been dedicated to my non-profit organization. The Future Foundation’s focus is to help young people reach their educational potential,” said Abdur-Rahim.

“Although I left Cal after only one year, it has always been my goal to complete my degree,” he said. “Receiving my degree will be an extremely proud moment for me and my family. I hope it will also help inspire many of the students our foundation proudly serves and encourages.”

ABOUT FUTURE FOUNDATION
Dedicated to a mission of leveling the playing field for youth in Metro Atlanta by providing quality educational, health and life skills programs. Future Foundation reaches more than 2000 youth and parents annually through three activities: The Reef House After-School Learning and Teen Center Programs where youth have a 360 degree focus: school, health & fitness, lifestyle advice and post-secondary preparation; RealTalk ATL, an in-school program that teaches youth how to avoid risky behaviors and make smart decisions about their bodies; and Parent Connect, a monthly series of workshops designed to help parents better connect and relate with their children.

Complex.com and Nicekicks.com gave Nate Robinson props this weak for being the of the NBA’s best sneakerheads. On the court, NiceKicks.com nominated Nate for the Top “Kicks on Court” for the 2012 NBA season. Off the court, Complex.com named Nate as a sneakerhead you must follow on Instagram.

Tina Thompson may be in training camp with the Seattle Storm, but her heart remains in Houston. That’s where Thompson’s son, Dyllan, is staying with his grandmother as he finishes up the school year. Because Thompson lived in Los Angeles year-round while playing for the Sparks the last three seasons, and Houston before that, this is the first time basketball has kept her apart from her son for an extended period. And she misses him badly.

“I’m not normal when he’s not around,” said Thompson, who signed with the Storm in February. “This is rather difficult. I think he’s probably taking it a lot better than I am because he’s in his comfort zone, he’s at home. He has all the things that he loves to have around him. Of course he misses me and I miss him too. But we Skype every day, we talk every day. Although we’re not in each other’s presence, we’re kind of like still there.”

Still, Thompson’s maternal instincts kick in. She worries about Dyllan being uncomfortable, and can’t wait for when school ends in a couple of weeks and he can join her in Seattle. Spending a summer with a WNBA team has become the usual routine for Dyllan, who turns seven on Saturday. Since he was a baby, Dyllan has followed Thompson everywhere throughout her career.

“My son has literally just kind of adopted the lifestyle himself,” Thompson said. “I think if he hadn’t meshed into the lifestyle so easily, then I would probably be doing something else right now. Dyllan is definitely my priority. How comfortable he is in this lifestyle is important. He’s been great.”

The result has been a childhood that’s anything been ordinary.

“I’ve been able to experience so much through basketball,” said Thompson. “In the last six years, that he’s been able to experience those same things is pretty awesome: Going to the Olympics, being in China, being on the Great Wall of China. Those are experiences that don’t happen every day.”

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