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New Jersey Nets give Quincy Douby his final pre-draft tryout

TOM CANAVAN

Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Quincy Douby had his 16th and final NBA pre-draft workout Saturday, showing the New Jersey Nets the shooting that made the Rutgers guard the nation's sixth-leading scorer this past season.

"I came a long way, a lot of ups and downs," a profusely sweating Douby said after showcasing his skills one last time prior to Wednesday's draft.

"There were a whole bunch of things I had to overcome," Douby added. "It's always been; (I) have been looked down upon. I can't play in college. I can't do it in high school. I just proved everybody wrong."

Douby, who left Rutgers a year early to enter the NBA Draft, is a basketball novice. His family came to the United States from Haiti and he didn't play organized ball until his junior year of high school. He then persuaded Rutgers to give him a shot in college.

The wiry 6-foot-3 1/2, 170-pounder left as the Scarlet Knights' sixth-leading scorer with 1,690 points, averaging 25.4 this season to lead the Big East Conference. He had 116, 3-point field goals this past season, including nine in one game, both school records.

"The 3-point line in the NBA right now is not an issue," Nets general manager Ed Stefanski said after watching Douby working out with Steve Burtt of Iona, Kevin Pittsnogle of West Virginia and Matt Haryasz of Stanford.

While noting that Douby might be small for a shooting guard, Stefanski said that Douby can "flat out shoot" and that he reminds him of former Nets guard Kerry Kittles. He added his herky-jerky ballhandling manner makes him hard to cover.

The past month has been a whirlwind for Douby. He has traveled a "ridiculous" amount of miles, going from one NBA city to city to another to work out. His sightseeing on those trips was reduced to viewing what he could out a limousine window. His meals have mostly been room service, followed by treadmill workouts in hotel gyms.

His workouts have been grueling, with teams trying to break him down to expose weaknesses.

"I'm really tired," Douby said after taking a sports drink and sitting down in a chair for a second round of interviews. "I feel relieved."

While asked about being taken by the Knicks (21st pick) and the Nets (Nos. 22 and 23) on Wednesday, Douby doesn't care which team selects him. The prospect of playing with either Kobe Bryant of the Lakers or LeBron James of the Cavaliers made him smile. In fact, any NBA team could make him smile.

Douby thinks he will be even better as a pro than he was in college, where he also averaged 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists last season. For one, he won't have to face double-and-triple team defenses. He also won't have to work as hard to score.

"I didn't have anyone on my team at Rutgers that could give me the ball," Douby said. "I had to pretty much create everything on my own. I can fit with any team. I just have to keep working."

Keith Glass, who represents Douby, feels that the former guard from Grady High School in Brooklyn. N.Y. will be a first-round pick.

"If not, there is something wrong with a lot of people" said Glass, who obviously has a bias. "If there are 30 players better than him, this is one of the greatest drafts in NBA history."

Douby said his shooting in the workouts was so good, some teams wanted him to come back a second time to prove it wasn't a fluke. He turned them down.

Rutgers has not had a first-round NBA draft pick since 1983 (Roy Hinson) and has not had a player make the NBA since John Battle in 1985.

"I think he's a heck of a player and certainly we were very fortunate to have him," said new Rutgers coach Fred Hill, who attended the workout.

Douby has no regrets about leaving college early.

"I did enough for the Rutgers program, helped them as much as I could," he said. "I just felt I was ready to begin my career."