Three players with state ties hoping to be late choices in NBA draft

While Virginia Commonwealth point guard Eric Maynor is projected to be selected in the first round of tonight's NBA draft, three other players with state connections likely will find themselves sweating through the late stages of the second round.

NBADraft.net's mock draft -- hardly fail-proof science -- predicts that New Orleans will take Maynor with the 21st pick. Regardless of whether he goes at that spot, Maynor almost certainly will be drafted.

Same goes for point guard Brandon Jennings, who spent his final two years of high school at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, then played professionally in Rome for a season because the NBA requires players to be a year removed from high school before entering the draft. Jennings is projected by NBADraft.net to go 14th to Phoenix.

But what about Virginia Tech shooting guard A.D. Vassallo? Or Boston College point guard Tyrese Rice, an L.C. Bird High graduate? Or Memphis forward Shawn Taggart, who played at George Wythe? Of those three, NBADraft.net believes only Rice will be selected -- by Portland with the 55th overall pick, the sixth-to-last spot.

"When you're in the second round, anything can happen," said Aaron Mintz, Rice's agent.

As this trio awaits what happens, here is a look at how each got here:

VASSALLO: He was a one-dimensional player -- mainly a spot-up shooter -- when he came to Virginia Tech. But as the 6-6 Vassallo developed more offensive weapons, his scoring average increased from 11.1 points as a sophomore to 19.1 as a senior. He also increased his rebounding average from 4.6 as a junior to 6.2 as a senior.

"He can score in more ways than almost any guy in this draft," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said, while admitting he might be a tad biased. "He can post them, he's got a runner, he shoots with range, he can pull off a ball screen, he can make plays in transition. He is a complete offensive player."

While Greenberg acknowledged that some NBA front offices might question Vassallo's defensive ability, he said, "First of all, there are not a ton of lock-down defenders in that league anymore. You've just got to keep the ball in front of you. He can keep the ball in front of him."

RICE: Though Rice proved himself as one of the ACC's best guards during his career, the biggest question surrounding him remains his small stature: 6-1 and 190 pounds.

Since the end of the college season, Rice has toured the country, trying to prove his worth to NBA squads during the workouts they hold for potential draft picks. Rice worked out for Indiana, Utah, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Miami, Toronto, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Washington, Cleveland and Denver. As he attempted to make a positive enough impression to get drafted, he knew he couldn't change one thing no matter how hard to tried.

"My size isn't going to change," Rice told the Boston Herald. "It hasn't changed since I was in about the 11th grade, so it's not going to change now. . . . The biggest thing is just showing that I can defend, that I can keep smaller guards in front of me and be strong enough to hold my ground against bigger guards."

Rice did not return a message left on his cell phone.

TAGGART: He started his college career at Iowa State but transferred to Memphis after one season when coach Wayne Morgan was fired. Because he sat out his transfer year, Taggart was in college for four years and was able to earn his degree, even though he technically left a year early for the draft.

Taggart, who will be 25 when next year's draft rolls around, clearly was itching to play on the next level.

He was a reserve when Memphis went to the Final Four in 2007 and averaged 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds. When the 6-10 Taggart was promoted to a starting role last season, he struggled at first, scoring in double figures just three times in his first 10 Conference USA games. He averaged 8 points in those games. Then he surged through the season's final 12 games, scoring in double figures seven times and averaging 11.6 points.

But like Vassallo and Rice, Taggart has done all he can. Now the hard part begins, the stuff they can't control: the watching and waiting.