THE LATEST LINE: NBA DRAFT ALWAYS FULL OF SURPRISES

The National Basketball Association draft is always full of surprises and this year was no exception, particularly if you're looking for a surprise from a local angle.

Former Cairo (Ill.) High standout Tyrone Nesby performed extremely well during the NBA's pre-draft camps and was listed in virtually every mock draft as a solid second-round pick. One list even had him going late in the first round.

But, as is often the case where the NBA draft is concerned, it didn't exactly go the way many of the so-called experts thought it would. In the case of Nesby, the 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward was not selected at all.

But Nesby, the leading scorer and second-leading rebounder for Nevada-Las Vegas last season, still figures to have a strong chance of making an NBA roster or he might even try and play overseas, where he would be sure to land a pretty good deal.

Either way, the explosive, athletic Nesby -- who was a high-school All-American at Cairo under coach Bill Chumbler -- figures to be playing in the professional ranks next season.

There was also a surprise at the very top of the draft when the Los Angeles Clippers made center Michael Olowokandi of Pacific the No. 1 overall pick. Point guard Mike Bibby of Arizona, who went second to Vancouver, had been considered a lock to be taken first.

Another surprise came when Kansas forward Paul Pierce -- regarded by many as the best all-around player in the draft -- slipped all the way to No. 10, where he was taken by Boston.

Olowokandi is quite a story. Many of you might have read or heard how the native of England had never played basketball as recently as four years ago but he decided he wanted to come to the United States to pursue the sport.

So, picking up a book of U.S. colleges, he by chance opened it to the `P' page, saw Pacific and called the school, where he reached an assistant coach and told him he was 7-feet and wanted to play basketball. Even though Pacific had no available scholarships, Olowokandi said he would pay his own way.

So he wound up at Pacific, where he turned into quite a player and eventually claimed the prestigious title of No. 1 pick.

Now it will be up to all the draft choices to prove that the teams selecting them made the right decisions.

Only time will tell if they did.

* The Canadian Football League is getting ready to open another season and former SEMO standout Kelvin Anderson will be looking for a third consecutive banner year in the CFL.

Anderson, SEMO's all-time rushing leader, has gained more than 1,000 yards for the Calgary Stampeders each of the past two seasons. He was the CFL's Rookie of the Year in 1996 and was a Western Division All-Star last year.

The Stampeders, 10-4 last year, open the regular season Wednesday.

Another former SEMO star, defensive back Ronnie Smith, failed in his bid to make the Calgary roster. Smith was cut a day after the first preseason game on June 17.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian