Nor Cal Basketball

Fran McCaffery previously coached at North Carolina-Greensboro. The Spartans were in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina was in the Southern Conference and had a player named Kevin Martin.

So McCaffery knows.

He knows this Jason Thompson canyon jump from Rider of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to the Kings of the NBA because he faced Martin in the Southern and just had three seasons of contending with Thompson while coaching Siena in the MAAC, just as he has seen an arrival from an East Coast mid-major get the curiosity treatment in Sacramento. He knows the perception game that comes anytime fans need Google to locate the school that produced their first-round pick.

"I coached a lot against Kevin Martin," McCaffery said. "I remember the same conversations about him. 'Western Carolina? Who?' "

All together then: Rider? Who? Rider University. The Broncs. Lawrenceville, N.J. About 40 miles northeast of Philadelphia and 60 miles southwest of New York. Enrollment: 6,000. Founded: 1865. Capacity of home gym: 1,650. Great nickname for home gym: Broncs' Zoo. Colors: cranberry and white. Ten Division I sports for men, 10 for women. No football.

The MAAC inspires uncertainty out West in particular, certainly more wonderment than would have come if the 76ers (picking 16th), Wizards (18th) or Nets (21st) chose Thompson. That's Metro Atlantic territory, 10 private schools in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Connecticut, several of which were founded in the 1800s, most of which have Catholic affiliations and all of which have enrollments smaller than 7,000.

NBA front offices care not at all about name recognition, of course, even if the draft has trended noticeably toward a blanketing by colleges from BCS conferences. If teams would excitedly take a high school player in the lottery – and they would if rules still allowed it – they won't be talked off someone from D-I Rider because of the competition level. But just try stopping the questions of how Thompson's 20.3 points and 11.1 rebounds as a junior and senior at a mid-major would have translated against tougher competition.

"It's much better than people think," said Tommy Dempsey, about to begin his sixth season on the Rider bench and fourth as head coach. "We were co-champs with Siena. They went into the NCAA Tournament and beat the No. 2 team in the SEC (Vanderbilt) by 21. Like most mid-majors, we struggle for the recognition.

"People will make the argument that night in and night out, he didn't face the top competition. That's probably true as far as every night. But I would make the argument that when he did see it, he rose to the top level."

Nov. 22, 2007, in the Old Spice Classic against North Carolina State and power forward J.J. Hickson, the eventual No. 19 pick by the Cavaliers: 24 points and 15 rebounds.

Three nights later, in the same tournament against Kansas State and Michael Beasley, the eventual No. 2 pick by the Heat: 24 points, seven rebounds, four blocks.

"See, the thing about it is, it's not that I played at Rider all my life," Thompson said. "I went to (LeBron James') camp (before his senior season) and played against the best college guys in the country. Went up against LeBron. Went up against Amare (Stoudemire) at Amare's camp. So I haven't been playing just Rider competition or the MAAC competition my whole life.

"And then all these (predraft) workouts, when I played better and better against the better guys in the country. I was playing against guys that were top-10 picks and stuff like that. … People have been trying to say, 'Oh, the transition from a mid-major to the NBA … ' Obviously there's a difference between college and the NBA. But it's not the mid-major because I haven't been playing just mid-major competition.

"If guys are doing their research, then they see … I've been playing against NBA players, been playing against guys who were going into the league or had been in the league for years."

The MAAC is – realistically – familiar to few outside the Northeast. But the conference has statement upsets in two of the past five NCAA Tournaments: McCaffery's 13th-seeded Siena Saints (enrollment: 3,700) over fourth-seeded Vanderbilt in the first round last season and 12th-seeded Manhattan (enrollment: 3,500) by 15 over fifth-seeded Florida in the '04 opening round. There's also Niagara's victory over Florida A&M in the 2007 play-in game.

"Our league is a mid-major," McCaffery said. "Some teams at the top would have been considered a high mid-major. They (Rider) were one. But every year, you take the top four teams in the conference and they can play with anyone."

Jared Jordan, a second-round pick of the Clippers in 2007, played at Marist, the school that also produced former Pacers center Rik Smits before it joined the MAAC in 1995. In the late-1980s and early-1990s, former King Lionel Simmons and Randy Woods were first-round selections out of LaSalle when the Explorers were part of the conference, and Doug Overton was a second-rounder.

Now comes Thompson.

"I don't think it's going to be any bigger jump than anyone else is making," Dempsey said. "Jason is one of those kids that has always risen to the occasion. If the level of his competition is great, he is going to play to that level."

Posted on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:00:00 PST at http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/1363930.html
Author: showard-cooper@sacbee.com (Scott Howard-Cooper)