Alexander predicted to go around the 8th pick

MORGANTOWN — With the National Basketball Association’s 2008 draft just two days away, West Virginia University’s Joe Alexander has been projected in two more mock draft to be the No. 8 overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks.

One of those was by Chris Colston of USA Today and the other was by Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Both projections were posted on Monday.

However, there are others who still see Alexander not being taken until the 13th pick by the Portland Trailblazers. That still would qualify him as a lottery selection, though.

The 6-8, 220-pound junior, who decided some 10 days ago to remain in the draft rather than return to WVU for another year, continues to attract raves from those so-called experts who follow the draft closely.

Ford wrote:

“Alexander is a high-energy forward who impressed (Milwaukee) General Manager John Hammond and new head coach Scott Skiles with his toughness and grit. That’s exactly what the Bucks are going for right now.

“Hammond wants to change the culture in Milwaukee and Alexander has that capability. He also fits the need. The Bucks will be shopping Bobby Simmons (along with everybody else) hard this summer.

“It sounds like Anthony Randolph is the other player the Bucks are looking at closely here. However, Randolph is further away than Alexander right now. Alexander is still a work-in-progress, too, but if he figures things out he has a chance to be really special.”

In picking Alexander eighth to go, Colston said simply: “Bucks fill small forward need.”

Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal observed in his column on Sunday, “The stock of Joe Alexander of West Virginia fame is rising in the NBA draft, while that of Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert is falling … the same Roy Hibbert the Boston Celtics were thinking of taking with the fifth pick last year.”

Hibbert, 7-2, 275-pound center, is no higher than 22nd by Utah in the USA Today mock draft. Colston noted, “Inside presence contrasts Okur’s outside game.”

O.J. Mayo of Huntington, the 6-4, 195-pound freshman at Southern Cal, is projected as the No. 3 overall pick by Minnesota in one mock draft and No. 4 by Seattle in the other.

Both players obviously were invited to attend the official NBA draft on Thursday in New York’s Madison Square Garden.