Thursday, June 27, 2002
UK's Prince goes to Pistons
The Associated Press
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Detroit Pistons went against the trend of drafting teen-agers by selecting Tayshaun Prince, who spent four seasons shooting jumpers at Kentucky.
“We like that,” Pistons president Joe Dumars said. “That's nothing but a plus for us. Some people, for some reason, look at it as a downside.”
Prince, who averaged 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds last season, believes the experience he gained in college will be an asset for the Pistons.
“I think it will help out a lot,” Prince said.
Prince was an Associated Press second-team All-American as a junior and a third-team All-American last year.
The Pistons were intrigued by Prince because they believe he can play small forward and shooting guard while even helping point guards bring the ball up the court at times. They also were impressed when Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said Prince guarded players at all five positions.
“We were drawn in by his versatility,” Detroit coach Rick Carlisle said. “This guy is an oddity in today's draft. He's a four-year player who played in 135 games in college and had great durability. He brought the ball up a lot of times for Kentucky, he's second in career 3-point field goals made, so he can do it on the outside. And he's fifth all-time in blocked shots, so he does some things inside. He's an usual combination.”
He's also thin with just 215 points on his 6-foot-9 frame.
“A lot of people look at my body and say negative things,” Prince said. “But I worked hard over four years. Since I got to college, I've gained 20 pounds.”
Dumars said: “Of course, he's going to have to get stronger in the NBA. But that applies to most guys in the draft.”
Prince will battle with last year's No. 1 pick Rodney White and veteran Michael Curry for playing time at small forward next season and with Jon Barry at shooting guard behind Jerry Stackhouse.
“One of our goals is to make this a competitive situation,” Carlisle said. “I'm curious to see how the whole thing comes down.”
Pistons president Joe Dumars thought about sending the first-round pick to Atlanta to complete the trade that brought Stackhouse to Detroit, but decided to keep it. The Hawks received the future pick as part of a previous trade.
The only other player Detroit would have selected with the 23rd pick was John Salmons, who played four seasons at Miami (Fla.), and was taken by San Antonio with the 26th pick.
“We had a lot of options with this pick,” Dumars said. “If one of the two guys we wanted were not there, we had four teams that would've made a trade for our pick.”
Some thought the Pistons may draft Frank Williams of Illinois or Dan Dickau of Gonzaga to fill a need at point guard, but Dumars said that wasn't an option.
“We were not looking for one-position players,” Dumars said.
Prince, who started in 98 games over the past three seasons and played in all 37 games as a freshman, improved his scoring average each year. The Compton, Calif., native averaged 16.9 points as a junior, 13.3 as a sophomore and 5.8 during his freshman season.
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UK's Prince goes to Pistons 
