When it was determined by Moon and Kirby there just had to be a way to get into the Chicago Predraft Camp, they went to Clay County in Alabama to shoot a tape because Coosa County, where Moon lives, doesn't have a good gym to shoot in.

His hometown of Goodwater did have its very own concrete court, but the rims got ripped down which is why usually Moon just shot baskets by himself on a dirt court behind his mama's house.

"I could always shoot," Moon, 20, laughed. "Where I grew up that was all there was to do."

Thursday it was Moon who was laughing loudest and perhaps last, admitting this entire draft odyssey is crazy. But, you can find humor in yourself when halfway through this meat market for pro hopefuls in Chicago you've transformed from a nobody to head turner.

Moon, the 6-foot-7 junior college flunk out, showed exceptional athleticism, plenty of skills and scored 13 points. He drained all three of his attempts from behind the arc.

He shot in the tape too. Kirby holding the video recorder and Moon holding the ball, draining shots from all over the gym. Since they couldn't get a single scout to come watch Moon work out, they decided just to film a session and then mail it out. According to Moon, someone with the Milwaukee Bucks actually watched it, called them up and worked to get them into this camp.

"They loved the tape," he said. "The Bucks say they want me, but they don't think I'll be around when they pick (52nd)."

NBA scouting guru Marty Blake says the tape had nothing to do with Moon getting an invitation. He says the league keeps records of all players ranked in the top 50 as high school seniors and Moon, who was that in 1999, wasn't forgotten. When he declared, he was invited.

"We knew about him, we had a card on him," Blake said. "The object of this camp is for NBA people to see these players and nobody had seen Jamario. But we knew of him, there are no secrets anymore."

Well, this is about as close as it comes because only the most devout recruiting junkie can recall the prep career of Moon. Because of poor grades, he was never a serious D-I recruit, which meant he got little attention despite showing plenty of ability at little Coosa Central High and playing for Kirby's Running Rhinos summer team.

But that doesn't matter now, because Moon believes in himself, the tape and making the most of an opportunity that seemed almost impossible. Especially since his career consisted of 12 junior college games before academic probation set in at Meridian Community College in Mississippi. This winter he stayed occupied by playing for the Lakeland Blue Ducks of the USBL. He played Thursday with a passion that is the direct result of having truly nothing to lose.

He knows he could just as easily be back home in Goodwater -- one caution light, two gas stations and nothing else, he says -- instead of competing in front of 29 NBA teams.

"From where I've been," Moon said, "it's a long way to the NBA."

But it might be getting closer. NBA lore is full of players coming from nowhere to star careers, small college players such as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Eddie Robinson. Guys like Ervin Johnson, who spent three years sacking groceries in Louisiana before Tim Floyd, then coach of New Orleans, stumbled upon him.

Moon's problem is school books have never interested him. At one point in high school, he thought his best route to the NBA was to attend Mt. Zion Christian Academy in North Carolina, the school that made an unknown Southerner named Tracy McGrady a star. But after a few weeks in Durham, N.C., Moon saw the place as corrupt, never attended a class and couldn't stand that the players were often locked inside the house they shared.

"They nailed the windows shut but me and Stephen Hunter (another predraft camper) pulled the nails out, opened the window, jumped down and ran to the McDonalds and called home," Moon said.

So that was the end of that.

And this is the beginning. Moon is still not a guaranteed lottery pick, but he has attracted a following. In a draft camp without a single good shooter, his nice touch from the perimeter is a welcome sight. Combine that with some pure athleticism and slashing ability, good height and plenty of hunger and Moon has done the seemingly impossible, he made a name for himself.

"I think I've got an advantage," Moon theorizes. "Nobody knows nothing about me, so I don't have to impress them."

He's managed regardless.