Wednesday, June 21, 2000
Samake to give IBL big boost in NBA draft
By Pete Holtermann
Enquirer Contributor
The International Basketball League hopes its credibility will get a boost next Wednesday when the Cincinnati Stuff's Soumaila Samake is selected in the NBA Draft.
“We'd love it,” said IBL President Thaxter Thrafton. “We want to develop youngsters and hopefully they all get to the NBA.”
Since the Stuff season ended in early May, Samake, the IBL Defensive Player of Year, has met with 15 NBA teams. The 7-foot-2 center is likely to be the tallest player taken in the draft, and his numbers from one IBL season — 9.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game — indicate that he's got a lot of natural ability for someone who has only played basketball for six years.
“There's a uniqueness about a guy that can rebound, produce in the paint and play defense,” said Ryan Blake, the Assistant Director of Scouting for the NBA. “He's a person a lot of teams have looked at. There's slim pickings for big men.”
Seven-footers Chris Mihm of Texas and Joel Pryzbilla of Minnesota are the top two centers in the draft, and if either would happen to slip out of the top five, Cleveland is almost certain to take them at No. 8.
After that, it's anybody's guess.
The 22-year-old Samake is in a second tier of centers in the draft along with Mamadou N'diaye (7-0, Auburn), Jerome Moiso (6-11, UCLA), Dan McClintock (7-0, Northern Arizona), Ernest Brown (7-0, Indian Hill C.C.) and Jamaal Magloire (6-10, Kentucky). Russian Iakovo Tsakalidis is also highly regarded, but questions about his contract with AEK in Greece have left his status in doubt.
Neil Eisenstein, Samake's agent, says Samake's individual workouts have been beneficial. “Every person that has seen him is extremely impressed with his workouts,” he said.
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