By Matthew Gardner | May 29, 2006

For 62 basketball players, the road to the NBA is passing through Orlando this week.

The NBA's Pre-Draft Camp got underway on Tuesday evening, taking place at Disney's Wide World of Sports for the second straight year.

Some of the top prospects in the game have come to Orlando with an opportunity to play in front of scouts, coaches, general managers and other front office officials. The goal is simple - play well enough throughout the week to secure (or improve your position) in June's NBA Draft.

For most competing in the drill's portion this week, the goal is to secure a second round selection. In a few cases, it may even elevate their status to the first round. That's what happened last year to Renaldo Balkman (New York) and Jordan Farmar (LA Lakers) after playing well at Pre-Draft Camp.

The players who are considered lottery picks or a lock for the first round, opt out of the drills and games portion of the week in order to avoid hurting their status or getting injured.

Many of those top players will be in Orlando this week to meet with the media and to take a required physical. Among those players are Ohio State's Greg Oden and Mike Conley, Jr., Texas' Kevin Durant, Florida's Corey Brewer, Al Horford and Joakim Noah, Georgetown's Jeff Green, Washington's Spencer Hawes, Texas A&M's Acie Law, Duke's Josh McRoberts, North Carolina's Brandan Wright, Kansas' Julian Wright, China's Yi Jianlian and Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young.

The 62 players participating were divided up into six teams on Tuesday and began running offensive sets that will be their focus this week.

MAGIC WELL REPRESENTED
In addition to General Manager Otis Smith and Assistant GM Dave Twardzik, the Orlando Magic were well represented on Day 1 at Disney's Milk House.

Magic forward Trevor Ariza was seen checking out some of the action, as were all five assistant coaches (Randy Ayers, John Kuester, Tom Sterner, Morlon Wiley and Mark Bryant). Brian Hill, who will not return as Magic head coach next season, was seen sitting with his former staff at one point in the evening.

ALL FOR ONE, BUT ONLY ONE FOR PRE-DRAFT
Florida's stellar junior class announced in April that they would be leaving Gainesville together. After winning back-to-back National Championships for the Gators, Corey Brewer, Tauren Green, Al Horford and Joahkim Noah announced they would all enter the Draft.

Brewer, Horford and Noah are considered locks to be selected as lottery picks, so that leaves only Green left to represent the foursome on the hardwood this week.

Though he was not guaranteed of a first round pick, and perhaps runs the risk of not being drafted at all, Green is still confident he made the right decision. He has already hired an agent, meaning he's given up his college eligibility.

"I talked it over with coach (Billy) Donovan and with my family and we all felt it was the best time to come out," Green said.

While there's no doubt Green can flat out shoot the ball and showed throughout the past two seasons that he can run an offense, Green said that teams may be looking at his size and even his defense as factors in whether his name gets called on Draft night.

And even those Green's three compatriots are sitting out this week, the point guard isn't the only Gator sweating it out. Senior Chris Richard, a major bench contributor for Florida this past season, is also playing in front of NBA officials.

A HELPING HAND
While it's important to demonstrate this week that you are a team player, having someone that can help you show off your individual abilities can be a plus. Three pairs of college teammates are playings alongside one another this week, including Ohio State's Daequan Cook and Ron Lewis. The other pairs are Nevada's Marcelus Kemp and Ramon Sessions and Arizona's Mustafa Shakur and Ivan Radenovic.

BACK FOR SECONDS
Shakur is one of five players participating in the Pre-Draft Camp for the second straight year. Players can opt out of the Draft up until June 18 and that's what Shakur did after taking part in last year's Pre-Draft Camp. The others seeing action for a second straight year are Adelaide-Australia's Brad Newley, Loyola-Chicago's Blake Schlib, Cal State Fullerton's Bobby Brown and Boise State's Coby Karl - the son of Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl.