Picture yourself at a job interview and all other candidates are right there with you. You're probed, poked, prodded and measured in every way possible. All of this under the watchful eyes of more than a half dozen scrutinizers.

Welcome to the world of the NBA draft prospect.

As we get closer to the 2002 NBA Draft on June 26, raptors.com will continue to take a look at Toronto's preparations for the selection process, but today we yake an inside peek into what goes on during a Raptors private workout.

Parker, Taylor and Logan (L-R) get instructions from Craig Neal.

The routine has been in place for several years under the leadership of Senior Vice-President and General Manager Glen Grunwald and Assistant General Manager Bob Zuffelato and was the case when Steve Logan of Cincinnati, Marcus Taylor of Michigan State and William "Smush" Parker of Fordham arrived in Toronto Tuesday night. They were to be joined by Frank Williams of Illinois, but he had troubles with his travel arrangements and his workout will be rescheduled.

After getting picked up at the airport and checked into a local hotel, the young men were taken out to dinner by Grunwald, Zuffelato and other staff members. This is more than just a meal as the Raptors staff gets its first real opportunity to learn about each player as a person and get a feel for his character.

First thing in the morning, the prospects were shuttled to Air Canada Centre to start their evaluation.

9:00 am --- After getting fitted into Raptors gear, each player has a physical examination from the team's medical staff in the team locker room.

Assessments are done by the watchful gaze of Lenny Wilkens, Glen Grunwald, head scout Jim Kelly and assistant coach Jim Brewer.

10:00 am --- Moving upstairs to the practice court in the arena, head athletic therapist Chuck Mooney leads the prospects in a stretching routine that gets them ready for the more demanding parts of the day.

10:15 am --- Mooney conducts flexibility and other fitness measurements on each player. This includes tests for foot speed, jumping (standing and running takeoffs), straight-ahead speed and shuffle quickness (a useful attribute to have if you want to be a good defender). By this point, the majority of the coaching and scouting staff have joined the group in the gym. Another two pairs of important eyes are also watching the hopefuls as Vince Carter and Antonio Davis briefly drop by the arena to catch a glimpse.

10:40 am --- Assistant coaches Craig Neal and Walker D. Russell direct the three prospects in shooting and ballhandling drills to assess some of their basic skills. Since these players are all point guards they would have a specific set of drills, one of three sets used by the Raptors. The others are for wing players and post players.

11:30 am --- Logan, Taylor and Parker engage in a series of one-on-one duels, which turn out to be fairly even and very competitive.

Logan is shooting and Taylor is ready. You're next.

12 noon --- One final demanding test awaits the three hopefuls. Neal gathers them at one sideline and tells them they have to run 10 complete laps of the court in less than two-and-a-half minutes. Drenched in sweat by this point, the faces of the three shudder at the thought of this daunting task. The time is put on the clock and off they go, but, just a couple strides into it, the coach tells them to stop and the whole gym bursts into laughter. The youngsters realized they had just been had and that there was some fun to this whole process.

After meeting with a few of the local members of the media who wanted to hear their thoughts on the possibility of joining the Raptors, Logan, Taylor and Parker head for the showers.

They are then invited up for a gourmet lunch in a meeting room adjacent to Grunwald's office where their visit is completed with a presentation on all they need to know about the team, the people and the city in a place they may one day call home.

Later in the day, each player is taken to the airport where he might be going home or off to another NBA city where the whole process begins again.