http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/draft/2004-06-23-vroman_x.htm
At 6-10, 220 pounds, he isn't the biggest or strongest center available in the NBA draft, nor is he the quickest. Knowing that, he doesn't try to overpower opponents or dazzle them with cute moves.
The one thing Vroman knows he can do is play hard consistently, so that's what he does. Though that might not be enough to get him a spot in the first round of the NBA draft Thursday night in New York, it should be enough for him to have a place in the league.
"He brings it," Indiana Pacers director of player personnel Mel Daniels says. "He knows when you don't have the talent and athleticism that the others have, you have to do other things. He will bust his head getting to where he needs to be — rebounding, defending, scoring, just plain hurting you.
"He understands what it takes. Whoever the opposing five (center) is, he'll make him wish he played another position until he runs up against the big fellow out West (Shaquille O'Neal). But as far as the rest of them, he can be effective because he has the size and tenacity."
Recent drafts have been plagued by a scarcity of classic centers, pivot men who play with their backs to the basket.
That trend is continuing this year. Seven-footers Pavel Podkolzine of Italy, David Harrison of Colorado, Peter John Ramos of Puerto Rico and Robert Swift of Bakersfield (Calif.) High are the only centers projected as first-round picks.
"It doesn't matter to me where I am in the draft," says Vroman, the 2004 Big 12 rebounding champion his senior season at Iowa State with 9.6 a game. "I just want to make a team, and then I'll worry about my second contract.
"I'm confident that during the summer I can make a team (if he's not drafted)."
Even if Vroman isn't a first-round pick, personnel executives came away from the pre-draft camp in Chicago saying that he's a good bet to be on somebody's roster next season because of his aggressiveness and work ethic.
He grabbed everyone's attention when he scored 17 points in the first game and got to the free throw line 17 times, making 11. He also had seven rebounds.
"Seventeen free throws says 'I'm going to the basket,' " Daniels says. " 'If you're in the way, you're going to have to foul me and I'm going to score or you're going to foul me period, and I'm going to run over you.' A guy like him, it doesn't matter where he's drafted. He's going to be in the league."
Vroman averaged 14.3 points and got to the free throw line 30 times in three games during the pre-draft camp. He averaged six rebounds. He also showed that he has enough quickness to defend opponents on the perimeter.
"He's intriguing," Seattle SuperSonics President/CEO Wally Walker says. "He plays hard. He has perimeter skills and a low-post toughness."
Vroman considers himself better suited for power forward, but he says he's willing to play wherever his team asks.
"I can be effective," he says. "I'd be a different type of center. If I have a big guy on me, I love stepping out and facing up. I'd be more effective as an offensive center than a defensive center.
"If I'm guarding a center, I like to front him and hope for backside help. With zone guidelines in the NBA, you can get away with being a smaller center. You have people like (Minnesota's Mark) Madsen guarding Shaq. It's based on effort."
