Huskies' Brockman considers his NBA possibilities

One of the rewards from Jon Brockman's former life came his way Friday when the Washington Huskies forward was named as this year's winner of the Chip Hilton Award.

The award is given annually to a college-basketball senior who is judged to demonstrate the same kind of character, leadership and talent as evident in the Chip Hilton Sports Series books of the 1940s through 1960s. Among the other finalists were North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and Texas' A.J. Abrams, and past winners include Tim Duncan and Emeka Okafor.

"There's some pretty good players on that list of past winners, so I'm pretty pumped up about it," Brockman said Friday.

But other than collecting hardware, his college days are in the past, his sights set now on trying to join some of those former Chip Hilton winners in the NBA.

Brockman is considered far from a sure thing, generally not mentioned on the numerous mock drafts that begin to circulate this time of year. But as with everything in Brockman's life, if it doesn't happen it won't be for lack of effort.

Since Washington's season ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Purdue two weeks ago today, Brockman has begun to focus on the future.

"It was definitely tough," Brockman said of the 76-74 loss to Purdue. "I'm still thinking about it quite a bit, actually. But that's basketball. It's the way things are. I've just got to put that behind me and start moving on. I've been able to look back and just kind of cherish and remember all the good times more than the way that it ended. It's just kind of a chapter of my life that is closing now."

With UW on spring break last week, Brockman headed to Sacramento, where he hung out for about five days with former Huskies teammate Spencer Hawes, now playing for the Kings.

Brockman was able to heal some of the accumulated aches and pains from the season. Namely, a sprained ankle suffered in December that never completely healed, and a broken nose from the Pac-10 tournament.

He returned to Seattle on Tuesday and began working out with UW strength coach Matt Ludwig and said, "My body feels unbelievable. That week really helped out."

He's also begun meeting with agents, though he has yet to hire one.

He plans to do that in a week or two after he returns from participating in the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational Wednesday to Saturday. Brockman is one of 64 seniors who will play in the tournament, a showcase for college players to show their wares to NBA scouts (Washington State's Aron Baynes and Gonzaga's Micah Downs also will participate).

Then Brockman figures he'll do some individual workouts for NBA teams and maybe take part in the predraft camp in Chicago.

Brockman knows he has some work to do to convince scouts he can play in the NBA mostly due to his height. At 6 feet 7 he's regarded as not the ideal size to play power forward in the NBA.

"From what I hear there is interest," he said. "My size is going to be a factor in the decision-making. But that's been something I've battled through college — people saying I'm undersized. I'm keeping my mind open. It's been a dream of mine to play, and I really hope I do get a chance to play in the NBA.

"But if it turns out that Europe is the place for me, I'd be more than happy to go over there as long as I can keep playing and get better and someday make it [back to the NBA] that way. I'll just work as hard as possible."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com