Glenn Robinson thought he was under pressure.
Who's he kidding? He hasn't seen anything yet.The first of a record-tying nine underclassmen picked in the first round of the NBA draft, Purdue's Big Dog put on a Milwaukee Bucks cap and pondered his soon-to-be multimillion-dollar career.
"It feels great to be considered a player who is coming into the league like that," the draft's first selection said. "But in one respect it's bad, because people are going to expect for me to come in and want me to do more than what I can do. I'm not going to let that worry me."
The 6-foot-8 Robinson, the nation's player of the year as a junior, first considered a jump to the NBA after his sophomore season with the Boilermakers. After he returned to college, he spent too much time fending off questions about whether he would come back for his senior year.
Eventually, he refused to talk about it. The only one he had to answer to, he said, was himself.
"It was just a lot of, `Was I ready? Was I ready for all of this media attention? Am I ready to go play on the NBA level?' I felt I was ready."
The Bucks, as expected, were only too happy to oblige.
"I feel I have to improve in everything," he said. "I'm only 21 years old, so I feel I still have room to improve on every aspect of my game. I'm going to try to bring them all that I have. I'm going to try to add a little more scoring, try to make it a little more up-tempo."
His considerable talents range beyond his ability to score, although his nation's-best 30.3-point average last season is plenty impressive in itself. After sitting out his freshman year as a Prop 48 casualty, he averaged 24.1 points a game as a sophomore, then last season led Purdue to the Big Ten championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
He became the only Purdue player ever to get 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 steals, 100 assists and 50 blocked shots in a career and was a unanimous All-American.
"Everyone would like to be the No. 1 pick. That's just being a competitor," Robinson said. "A lot of people say the No. 1 player is one of the best, and I want to be considered one of the best."
Like Robinson's selection by Milwaukee, which was almost a foregone conclusion, there were few surprises through the two rounds of the draft Wednesday night.
There also were no trades, although one that would have sent Scottie Pippen from Chicago to Seattle for Shawn Kemp fell through. Another deal that could send Pooh Richardson and Malik Sealy from Indiana to the Los Angeles Clippers for Mark Jackson still might be in the works.
What was noteworthy was the number of underclassmen selected in the opening round. Six of the first seven and nine of the top 16 picks were non-seniors, matching the record nine underclassmen taken in 1982. Three more early-entry picks were taken on the second round.
After Robinson was picked, California point guard Jason Kidd, a 6-4 sophomore who led the nation in assists and set a school record for steals, was taken by Dallas.
Duke's Grant Hill, the only senior among the top seven picks, went next, to Detroit.
The Minnesota Timberwolves then took forward Donyell Marshall of Connecticut, the Washington Bullets drafted Michigan forward Juwan Howard, the Philadelphia 76ers picked Clemson forward-center Sharone Wright and the Los Angeles Clippers chose forward Lamond Murray, a teammate of Kidd at California.
The other underclassmen were Michigan's Jalen Rose, the third member of the Wolverines' Fab Five team of 1992 to depart early, picked 13th by Denver; George Washington's Yinka Dare, 14th by New Jersey; and Louisville's Clifford Rozier, 16th by Golden State. The underclassmen taken on the second round were Cincinnati freshman Dontonio Wingfield, 37th by Seattle; Minnesota's Voshon Lenard, 46th by Phoenix; and Georgia's Charles Claxton, 50th by Phoenix.
"It's a relief that it's now over. I know where I'm headed and now my heart can stop pounding," said Kidd.
He already has set some lofty personal and team goals for his rookie season with the Mavericks, the NBA's worst team last season.
"I want to be in the top five in the league in steals and assists and for the team to double its number of victories," Kidd said. "I think we can be a playoff team. That's a bold prediction, but I'm going to stick with it."
Hill, son of former NFL Dallas Cowboys star Calvin Hill, played for two NCAA championship teams at Duke in 1991 and 1992. He said he didn't mind being picked third by the Pistons.
"Detroit is where I wanted to go. I crossed my fingers," the 6-8 Hill said. "I'd like to think I'll play small forward, but I do a little of everything. That's what I've done my whole career."
Wright played center at Clemson, but the 6-11, 260-pounder is expected to play power forward alongside the 76ers' last two No. 1 draft picks, 7-6 Shawn Bradley and 6-7 Clarence Weatherspoon.
"I really don't see myself as a backup center," Wright said. "I want the big minutes. I'll be a power forward. I've been working on my shot."
The second senior in the draft was 6-9 power forward Brian Grant of Xavier, Ohio. Seven-footer Eric Montross of North Carolina became Robert Parish's heir apparent when the Boston Celtics made him the ninth choice.
Temple's Eddie Jones was taken 10th, by the Los Angeles Lakers, and his former college teammate Aaron McKie went 17th to Portland.
Seattle used the 11th pick to take the 6-11 Carlos Rogers of Tennessee State, followed by Kahlid Reeves of Arizona, taken by the Miami Heat.
The Indiana Pacers, picking 15th, selected Nebraska guard Eric Piatkowski - drawing more boos than cheers from the draft-record crowd of 19,833 at the Hoosier Dome. But he could be part of the possible deal with the Clippers in exchange for their second pick of the first round, guard Greg Minor of Louisville, the 25th selection.
The Pacers also drew boos by taking William Njoko of Canada with the 41st pick on the second round, but the draft hosts quickly made amends by taking Indiana guard Damon Bailey three picks later.
Florida State's 6-2 point guard Charlie Ward, the Heisman Trophy winner who was passed over in April's NFL draft, was chosen by the New York Knicks with the second-to-last pick of the first round.
NBA champion Houston's only pick was Texas forward Albert Burditt, the 53rd selection overall. Seattle then closed out the 4-hour, 2-minute draft by taking Zeljko Rebraca, a center from Belgrade.