Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506300049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There was a feeling of rejection at not being selected in the first round of the National Basketball Association draft and Junior Burrough doesn't want to forget it.
``I wasn't upset after the first 29 picks,'' said Burrough, the leading scorer for Virginia last year in its trip to the final eight of the NCAA Tournament. ``My whole thing was, `They're going to be sorry.'''
Burrough, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward, eventually was picked by Boston with the fourth pick of the second round (33rd overall). Cory Alexander, a teammate at Oak Hill Academy and Virginia, went to San Antonio on the 29th and final pick of the first round.
``I want to show everybody who needed me and chose somebody else that they [made a mistake],'' Burrough said. ``What better place than Boston, a young team with a new coach that made the playoffs last year!''
In its mock draft Wednesday, USA Today predicted that the Chicago Bulls would select Burrough with the 20th pick in the first round.
``I expected to go somewhere from 12 to 25,'' Burrough said. ``That's what I was hearing throughout the latter part of the season, through the pre-draft camp [and] up until draft day.
``I did not believe I would be drafted as low as I was. But, with the injuries I had, I was not able to go out and solidify any particular spot.''
Burrough suffered a sprained ankle while playing abroad and could not participate in a pre-draft camp in Chicago.
``Most of the guys who got picked ahead of me had a chance to go work out for their basketball teams,'' Burrough said. ``I think, if I had that same opportunity, maybe I wouldn't be a Boston Celtic. But, this is a perfect situation for me. It's ironic that things worked out that way.''
Burrough said he was told by coach M.L. Carr that substantial playing time would be available to him as a back-up to power forward Dino Radja.
``Financially, the money won't be the same [for a second-round pick], no question about it,'' Burrough said. ``I won't be able to do some of the things I wanted to do for my father. But, this is not about money. It's about opportunity.''
Nevertheless, Burrough is disturbed by pre-draft speculation that he had an attitude problem. Coaches and teammates at Virginia found him to be one of the most likable, caring people in the program.
``In four years, I never had a bad attitude,'' Burrough said. ``I didn't have one when I played. I don't have one now. I won't have one in my life. I heard a lot of those things before the draft and that was the most frustrating thing of all.
``I think that all came from [NBA scouting coordinator] Marty Blake because I didn't play in Chicago. He spoke to me on the way to the airport and said, `You need to play; you should have played,' and never asked me what was wrong.
``My ankle really wasn't sprained all that badly, but when I flew into Chicago, I had just injured it. All the advice I received from doctors and coaches was that I shouldn't play. The last thing I wanted was not to be 100 percent and for people to hold it against me if I didn't have a good showing.''
Burrough was not one of an ACC-record eight first-round selections, but he enjoyed a better fate than two other high-profile seniors, James Forrest of Georgia Tech and Donald Williams of North Carolina, who were not picked.
``People say, `It easily could have been you and not James,''' Burrough said. ``I know James Forrest personally, though, and there's not a whole lot of satisfaction in seeing a friend not get drafted. He was one of the better players in the ACC in my four seasons.
``I think he's going to prove a lot of people wrong. I feel the same thing about myself. Even though I was the 33rd pick, I really believe I'm a first-round pick. That's something I'm going to take into training camp and into the rest of my life.''
by CNB