IU alumni keep their hoop dreams alive

They might not have been drafted, but Marco Killingsworth's and Marshall Strickland's NBA dreams are still alive.\nAfter not being selected in the NBA Draft June 28, both of the former Hoosiers have signed with NBA teams to play for their summer league squads. \nAfter working out twice for them in the weeks preceding the draft, Strickland signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. Strickland and the 76ers will travel to Utah to play in the Rocky Mountain Revue from July 14-21.\n"I knew they liked me and they showed a lot of interest," Strickland said. "After my second workout they basically told me if they were going to get a second round pick they would grab me. They wanted to be sure I'd be around for summer league."\nBefore the draft, Strickland also worked out with the hometown Indiana Pacers. Although he enjoyed the workout, Strickland elected to play with the 76ers because he felt, "more at home in Philadelphia." \nDuring his career as a Hoosier, Strickland played point guard his first three years and shooting guard his senior year. But Strickland doesn't see himself as a "combo-guard" at the next level.\n"I'm a pure point guard. All of that shooting guard stuff is over," Strickland said.\nFormer IU assistant coach and current UAB assistant Donnie Marsh thinks Strickland will be a solid professional in the NBA.\n"In this day and age when you don't know what guys are doing when they leave the arena, Marshall is going to handle his business," Marsh said. "That's something that can't be overlooked. Marshall just has to play to his strengths and do things to the best of his ability."\nMarsh thinks that both Strickland and Killingsworth can have successful NBA careers if the right situation presents itself.\n"It's a situation where it's got to be the right fit," Marsh said. "The right team for both of these guys. That's what it's all about in the NBA, getting an opportunity."\nKillingsworth hopes the right fit for him will be with the Orlando Magic.\nMark Stevens, Killingworth's agent, said Marco decided to sign with Orlando because it was the "best fit to allow Marco to play his game."\nStevens said he sees Killingsworth in the mold of former NBA players Charles Barkley, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. \n"We'd like Marco to be able to play his game, but he can adjust," Stevens said. "He can do whatever the team needs him to do."\nAfter getting off to an impressive start at the beginning of last year, many draft experts expected Killingsworth to be drafted in the first round. Draft Express President and Director of Scouting Jonathan Givnoy was not one of them.\n"We haven't had Marco in our mock draft for the last six months, even when he was tearing Shelden Williams to shreds," Givnoy said. "At the end of the day, he's 6'7", not athletic, 25 years old, doesn't play defense and has a bad attitude." \nStevens had a different perspective on Killingsworth's draft stock.\n"We anticipated him to be drafted," Stevens said. "But we saw how the draft was going. With more European players being drafted, we anticipated that he might not be picked."\nGivnoy said that one of the reasons Killingsworth's draft stock slipped was because of his suspect attitude.\n"He has a very high opinion of himself," Givnoy said. "Some people have a realistic opinion of themselves, some don't. Marco might not necessarily be a bad kid, but you want a guy with a mentality saying, 'I'm nothing. I'm going to earn everything I get.'"\nBut Killingsworth's attitude can be misinterpreted to people who aren't close to him, according to Marsh.\n"Marco has a passion for the game," he said. "He has a passion for winning. And if you don't see him everyday you can misread what he is all about.\n"If you watch him for a full year, the passion the kid brings to the floor each night, that's the passion you can translate to a winner. People have to understand what the kid's passion is all about."\nStevens, Killingsworth's agent, had similar sentiments in regards to Killingsworth's attitude.\n"He has a strong love and passion for winning," he said. "Sometimes his emotions become over-bearing. But he's not uncoachable and he doesn't have a bad attitude."\nWhile Marsh feels that Killingsworth will be able to make an NBA team if he can work on one area, Givnoy believes Killingsworth has a long way to go before he can have a serious NBA career.\n"If he can lose a lot of weight and do kind of what Udonis Haslem did, he'll become a lot quicker and more athletic," Givnoy said. "He's going to have to work his butt off. Nobody builds their offense around a 6-foot-7 center who isn't very athletic."\nKillingsworth flew to Orlando yesterday to join the Magic, where they will compete and host the Pepsi Pro Summer League. The league consists of six teams, including the Magic and Pacers. \nAccording to Draft Express, 16 undrafted free agents made NBA teams last year and remained on the roster the entire season.