“I think that actually helped me in the long run,” said Hill, a 6-10 power forward who finally exploded into prospect-dom during his senior year at Providence by more than doubling his statistics. “I think when you have to work very hard day after day in order to reach a goal it turns you into a better person.”

And maybe a better player as well.

“That’s one of the reasons being a pure pass-first point guard came natural to me,” said the 6-2 Jordan who led the nation last year in assists (8.7 pg.) at Marist. “I never had the luxury to just think about myself. I truly don’t care about scoring. I think about my teammates first.”

“The greatest compliment to me is when a guy says ‘I like playing with you.’”

The 7-2 Gray’s modest background has helped him deal with the fact that, after being viewed as a likely lottery candidate last year, an injury-filled senior season has had him fall on most draft boards. “No regrets,” he smiles when thinking of his decision to return to school at Pitt. “I feel good about everything. We went to the Sweet Sixteen, didn’t we? If you think like that through life, you’re going to drive yourself crazy.”

“I’m doing my best in to impress the scouts in these workouts and let the chips fall where they may. It’s all going to work out.”

There IS a good chance: “Aaron Gray is a big, big man,” said Nets GM Ed Stefanski. “He’s got a big time strong wide body, did a great job getting it in shape. Real soft hands around the basket, can finish with the left or the right. But how athletic is he? Either way, I believe he’s a first-round pick.”

“I’ve lost 20 pounds since the end of the season,” said Gray. ”Due to my injury I really ballooned up so that was job one. Now I keep on working on my body, my agility, and show these teams that I really want it.”

“I’ve been working out with Joe Abunassar in L.A., three sessions a day,’’ added Gray. “He works out a lot of pre-Draft guys. They are long days, on the court, off the court. Five-on- fives, agility, foot speed, and quickness.”

“Isiah Thomas told me I remind him of some of his old teammates (Bill Laimbeer?). So I’m encouraged. That’s got to be a good thing.“ Another good thing: “Hill may be a little undersized ‘four’, but he’s got good length and he’s shown he can score over bigger guys,” said Stefanski. ‘’I’ll bring athleticism and rebounding to a team -- and I can really block shots from the weak side,’’ Hill said. “The Big East is the best conference top-to-bottom in the country. And it’s certainly the most physical. Playing there will help me to adjust the next level.”

Of course, no one is likely to get more “next level” questions than Jordan – after all, what does being a dominating passer in the smallish mid-major MAAC mean at the NBA level?

“He can flat out pass the basketball,” said Stefanski. “This kid was not brought in as a favor. This kid can PLAY.’’

“That’s why it was so important to me to do well (in the Pre-Draft Camp) in Orlando,” smiled Jordan. “I think I showed that I can run a team. I had very good feedback from NBA people afterwards.’’

“I look at it like, well, I’ve been under the radar. But all my life, I’ve always been able to adapt. I knew I could play against higher competition. I just needed the opportunity.”