By Dave Callanan | Posted: May 13th, 2005

Julius Hodge of NC State gets up during Friday's workout.

The 2005 NBA Draft may be over 40 days away, but Draft workouts have already tipped off for the Clippers. Elgin Baylor, Mike Dunleavy and the rest of the LAC Basketball Operations department have begun the task of evaluating available talent and scouting prospects in anticipation of June 28th.

Strength and Conditioning Coach Rich Williams began this week's workouts by running the prospects through a variety of drills designed to gauge agility, vertical leap, quickness and strength. From there, the Clippers Coaching staff took over with a handful of sets for each player. Spot up and off-the-dribble shooting were the norm for offensive portion, while defensive slides and close-outs dominated the defensive drills. Finally, the day concluded with one-on-one and two-on-two half court contests to evaluate head-to-head abilities.

Wednesday's workout was a forwards affair, as Carlos Powell of the University of South Carolina, Mike Bell of Florida Atlantic University, Dijon Thompson of UCLA and Odartey Blankson of UNLV showcased their skills for the Clippers' Basketball Ops team. Powell, an energetic banger, was a 3rd Team All Southeastern Conference this season, while the 6-9 Bell rewrote the FAU record books on his way to becoming the 2004-05 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year. Bruin captain Thompson was a first-teamer on the All PAC-10 squad and Blankson finished his Runnin' Rebel career as a two-time First Team All Mountain West forward.

On Friday, Julius Hodge of NC State, Tre Simmons of Washington, Thomas Kelati of Washington State and Romel Beck of UNLV took the court. The 2004 ACC Player of the Year, Hodge wrapped up a strong career in March as a member of the Wolfpack and Simmons joined Kelati on the Second Team of the 2004-05 All PAC 10 squad. Rounding out the workout was Rancho Cucamonga native Beck, who was a two time Honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference for Vegas.

Stay tuned to Clippers.com as the Draft action heats up. We'll post the latest and greatest from workouts and keep an eye out for our 2005 NBA Draft section set to launch later this month!