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May wants to play for Bobcats
May wants to play for Bobcats
Associated Press
With two lottery picks in the NBA draft, Sean May figures the Charlotte Bobcats can't avoid selecting a North Carolina player.
May, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after leading North Carolina to the NCAA championship, wants it to be him.
"I think it would be good for the franchise to have a Carolina basketball player here, especially someone the fans can relate to since they have seen them play the last few years," May said Monday. "What other great person can that be besides me?"
May, who won the 2002 Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. Basketball award as a player at Bloomington North, said he gave Charlotte's assistant coaches the same message over dinner and planned to tell coach Bernie Bickerstaff.
Charlotte has the Nos. 5 and 13 picks in the draft. May isn't projected to be selected much earlier than ninth.
"I would be willing to drop to 13 to come here," he said. "This for me would be my ideal spot just because it is Carolina and what North Carolina University has meant to me and what this state means to me. For me to come here and help another team in the state of Carolina would be a blessing."
The Bobcats aren't focused on selecting a player from an in-state school. But there are plenty to choose from, starting with North Carolina forward Marvin Williams, the player many believe is Charlotte's first choice.
They also need a point guard, and are interested in Wake Forest's Chris Paul and North Carolina's Raymond Felton.
May, whose father, Scott, played on Indiana's 1976 NCAA championship team, expects the Carolina trio to be selected within the first 15 picks.
"I told (the coaches) they've got five and 13, two lottery picks, and with the talk of us three guys going in the top 15, they've got to take one," May said. "I can't see it not happening."
Bickerstaff insists he's looking only for the best available players. But when pressed if having a local tie would give a player an edge, he relented.
"All things being equal, I would say 'Yes,' " Bickerstaff said. "That's the intelligent thing to do. But they would have to be equal."
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