North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough was the second ACC player taken during Thursday night's NBA draft. But he ultimately might be the conference's biggest winner in the annual hoops sweepstakes.

Not only did the four-time All-America surpass early predictions by becoming a lottery pick, he went to the Indiana Pacers – whose up-tempo style won't be much of an adjustment after playing four years for coach Roy Williams. In addition, the basketball-rich state should fit the Missouri native's down-home temperament. Then there's the bonus of working for team President Larry Bird, a Hall of Fame big man who knows a bit about being successful in the NBA.

Bird is not known for mentoring athletes day-to-day. But all that experience is bound to rub off – especially because he sees similarities in his and Hansbrough's work ethics.

“I was the same way,” Bird told the Indianapolis Star after his team chose 13th. “You compete in practice to make yourself better and make your teammates better. Those guys are hard to play against. He'll be ready to go. I'm sure he's ready to go tonight.”

GERALD HENDERSON: The Duke wing is used to Tar Heels, which is a good thing, considering his coach (Larry Brown), point guard (Raymond Felton) and managing partner (Michael Jordan), among others in the organization, are alums. The No.12 overall pick is in a good position to get ample playing time behind starting shooting guard Raja Bell.

TY LAWSON: Although the North Carolinapoint guard won't start, he's in a strong situation for the future, considering All-Star Chauncey Billups will turns 33 this year and his backup, unrestricted free agent Anthony Carter, is 34. Lawson will be honing his skills as he battles for playing time, but it doesn't hurt that his new coach, George Karl, is a Tar Heelsalum. Lawson also gets to play for a winning team (the Nuggets lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals), something that wouldn't have happened had Minnesota not traded him.

WAKE FOREST: On recruiting trips, Deaconscoaches always could point to All-Star Tim Duncan as a good reason to move to Winston-Salem. When forward James Johnson was taken 16th by the Bulls and point guard Jeff Teague was chosen 19th by Atlanta, the coaches added another argument to their list: a pair of first-round draft picks for the first time.

TONEY DOUGLAS: By sneaking into the first round of the draft (29th, by the New York Knicks), the Florida State point guard guaranteed himself a contract. Although the Knicks haven't boasted a winning team since the 2000-01 season, they thought enough of Douglas – and what he can add to their rebuilding effort – to give the Lakers $3million and rights to a second-round pick in 2011 to get Douglas' draft rights.

Will Williams play next season?

Former Duke guard Elliot Williams has chosen to transfer to Memphis, rather than Kentucky, Tennessee or Vanderbilt, he told The Commerical- Appeal on Saturday. But whether the rising sophomore is allowed to play next season may depend partially on how much weight the NCAA gives the schools he was also pondering — a la UNC forward Alex Stepheson a year ago.

NCAA rules state that basketball players must sit out a year if transferring from one Division I school to another. On a case-by-case basis, the organization will waive that rule if the player wants to be closer to home for legitimate hardship — in Williams’ case, the reported illness of his mother.

Stepheson went through the same process after the 2007-08 season, when he announced that he was transferring so he could be closer to his father, who was ill in California. Although playing time was likely a factor in the choice, there also was no doubt his dad was ill; Stepheson even missed two games in the middle of his sophomore season so he could go home to be with him.

But Stepheson likely made a miscue when he considered Arizona State — roughly 380 miles from Los Angeles — as an option. He eventually chose to transfer to the University of Southern California, which is in L.A. But the hardship exception — which had been in place since 1991, and covers everything from injury to illness to financial difficulties — was drawing criticism from coaches and media at the time because of the number of players trying to use it, even though their new schools were a state or two away.

So when the NCAA caught wind that Stepheson had been pondering playing for a team hundreds of miles south of his ailing father, it raised a red flag. In the end, he had to sit out last season (and watch the Tar Heels win a championship, while the Trojans were dealing with reports of NCAA violations unrelated to Stepheson). The same thing happened to Seton Hall's Herb Pope, who was trying to transfer from New Mexico State closer to his Pittsburgh home — even though the Pirates play 355 miles away. Like Stepheson, his appeal was denied, and he'll be eligible to play next season.

Williams, who is from Memphis and was expected to see plenty of playing time for Duke next season, made a good choice transferring to his hometown, rather than Kentucky (422 miles from home), Tennessee (391 miles) or Vanderbilt (212 miles). Unlike Stepheson, he also made a quick decision on his new school, which might also help his cause.

But only time will tell if whether considering more long-distance options — even for just a few days — has hurt his case for a hardship waiver. And whether he'll be sitting or playing for the Tigers next season.

With seven players drafted in the NBA draft's first round, the ACC will return only four guys who have at least 1,000 points: Maryland's Greivis Vasquez (1,524), Duke's Jon Scheyer (1,349) and Kyle Singler (1,060) and Clemson's Trevor Booker (1,239).

Don't expect coach Williams to be wearing a retro sport coat when his team dons retro uniforms next season to commemorate former Tar Heels title teams. “My corny attitude is retro enough,” he said, laughing.

Now that the NBA draft is over, new Appalachian State coach Buzz Peterson can concentrate fullyon his college job. And he'll have a familiar face to help him out. The former Bobcats director of player personnel – who stayed on in that capacity until after Thursday's draft – has hired North Carolinaalum Jason Capel to be an assistant coach. Capel, who has played internationally, is the son of Jeff Sr., an assistant for the Bobcats, and Jeff Jr., a Duke alum who is coach at Oklahoma. It will mark Jason's first coaching job.

Robbi Pickeral: 919-829-8944; robbi.pickeral@newsobserver.com

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