Cardinal has high hopes for NBA draft

By Keith Thomas
Summer Editor

One person who has always believed in Brian Cardinal is Brian Cardinal.

At one time, he was told that he wouldn't be good enough to play college basketball, which wasn't exactly accurate. Then, there were those who said he wouldn't be an impact player for a Big Ten team — wrong again. Now, with the 2000 NBA Draft only five days away, Cardinal knows that there are those who don't believe he can make it in the National Basketball Association.

"Hopefully I get picked; hopefully I do well; hopefully I'm able to make it (in the NBA), because I know it would prove a lot of people wrong that don't believe in me," said Cardinal. "That's something I've been doing my whole life, proving people wrong."

Aside from making it in the NBA, Cardinal said there are still those who doubt he will even hear his name called during the June 28 draft.

"Everybody has a theory," said Cardinal. " I mean, I had people walking up to me and asking me if I was going to go to the CBA or try to play in Europe."

Cardinal did, however, have a large number of believers after he participated in a number of NBA draft camps across the country.

There was some talk following these workouts that he would be drafted late in the first round.

That talk, however, changed a little after the 6-9 forward was absent from the most important — and final — draft camp in Chicago.

Cardinal has always had a hard time walking away from a pick-up game, and earlier this summer he wishes he would have. Cardinal strained his right calf while going up for a rebound when playing a five-on-five pick-up game with his former teammates earlier this summer in Mackey Arena.

"I was just out here playing one night, and I told myself I was going to stop after about an hour," said Cardinal, "but the guys wanted to play one more game and I was just going up for a rebound and I heard a pop."

That pop may have cost Cardinal a round in the draft.

Following the strained calf, which Cardinal said was really only sore for about a week, talk was more focused on Cardinal being an early to mid second rounder.

One individual who was at the draft camp at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago that Cardinal missed was his former assistant coach, Frank Kendrick.

Kendrick said he talked to a lot of the owners and general managers about what Cardinal's chances were and he is convinced that Cardinal will go in the early stages of round 2.

Kendrick, who played in the NBA and coached Cardinal, is certain the Tolono, Ill., native can play at the next level.

"There's always room for a guy like Brian," said Kendrick, who is the soon-to-be head coach of the Gary Steelheads CBA team. "I think he'd be a great asset to anybody."

Being a great asset to whom ever ends up calling Cardinal's name on Wednesday is due to Cardinal's work ethic and toughness he has displayed over the years.

"Hard worker, good attitude and team player," said Keady, who sums up Cardinal's assets in one sentence.

Cardinal, whose biggest fault has sometimes been his modesty, said he feels confident he will be drafted and that he has the drive and ability to make an impact at the next level.

"I've always lacked a little confidence and always been a little unsure of myself of whether I can play with the big dogs," said Cardinal. "But, finally I've realized that I know I can compete with anybody."

Talking about the possibilities of playing in the NBA is sure to prompt a smile from the easy-going Cardinal, who is quite different than his on-the-court personality of the "Citizen Pain" image he has made for himself.

One thing is sure; however, Cardinal has come to the most important crosswalk of his career — one that if selected in the draft, will lead him down the road to professional basketball. For him, this is just the latest challenge that he hopes to take on.

"My next dream, my next goal is to someday make it in the NBA," Cardinal said.

Until he gets the opportunity, Cardinal is passing time in ways that don't allow him to become overly anxious about basketball's judgement day on Wednesday.

"I try not thinking about it too much, but, you know it always sneaks in your mind," Cardinal said. "It's a pretty big deal."

Big indeed, which as Cardinal spends the last days of the pre-draft summer in the weight room, is what he is becoming.

Cardinal has bulked up to approximately 250 pounds — muscle weight acquired from long hours in the gym. With the extra size he might need to survive in the NBA, Cardinal might fit Kendrick's description of what pro big-man from basketball's past he reminds him of — Kurt Rambis. One exception, however, Kendrick thinks of Cardinal as a "Kurt Rambis who can shoot."

Kendrick also knows how antagonizing it can be waiting to hear your name called on draft day, as he was selected in the 3rd round of the 1974 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors.

"Sure, its nerve-racking, but when they call your name; what a relief, " said Kendrick, who gets excited when reflecting back on what that day meant to him.

If Cardinal does get selected in the late first round, he would be the first Boilermaker taken that early since Glenn Robinson was the first overall pick in the 1994 draft. New Boiler assistant coach Cuonzo Martin was the last Boiler taken in the second round in 1995.

Cardinal has high hopes for NBA draft

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