Four Prospects Work Out For Blazers On Friday

The Portland Trail Blazers continued working out prospects at the practice facility on Friday, hosting the following four players as they prepare for the 2013 NBA Draft.

• D.J. Cooper | Ohio | Senior | 5-foot-11 | 173 pounds | PG | DX profile | n/a in top 100

Played four seasons at Ohio University, averaging 14.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.29 steals and 33.8 minutes in 143 games (139 starts) ... Only player in NCAA Division I history to post at least 2,000 career points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 300 steals ... All-time leader at Ohio in assists (934), steals (327), 3-pointers (274), games started (139) and games played (143), as well as fourth in points (2,075) ... All-time Mid-American Conference leader in assists and second all-time in steals ... As a senior in 2012-13, earned AP All-America Honorable Mention honors and MAC Player of the Year, and was a Lou Henson Award Finalist and Lou Henson All-America Team member.

More information from an evaluation by Walker Beeken of DraftExpress.com...

He's an absolute jet with the ball in his hands, and he has plenty of freedom to create, with the ability to get into the paint off the dribble regularly. He used an extremely high rate of his possessions (37%) as the pick and roll ball-handler last season, but was largely inefficient (.69 points per possession), struggling with decision-making, taking difficult shots off the dribble, and having trouble finishing at the rim.

This is the case with Cooper's game in general, as he's an excellent creator, thanks to his quick burst and great change of speed and direction dribbles, but he has trouble at this stage reigning himself in and picking his spots.

• Greg Echenique | Creighton | Senior | 6-foot-8 | 265 pounds | C | DX profile | n/a in top 100

Played three seasons with Creighton after transferring from Rutgers midway through the 2009-10 season ... In his collegiate career with both schools, posted averages of 9.7 points (59.8% FG), 7.1 rebounds, 1.91 blocks and 24.4 minutes in 140 games (132 starts) ... With the Bluejays, averaged 10.0 points (62.5% FG), 6.6 rebounds, 1.72 blocks and 23.2 minutes in 101 games (95 starts) ... In 2012-13, helped Creighton reach the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament ... As a senior, was selected to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive Team, MVC All-Tournament Team, and was Honorable Mention All-MVC.

• Grant Jerrett | Arizona | Freshman | 6-foot-10 | 232 pounds | PF | DX profile | No. 58 in top 100

Played one season at the University of Arizona, averaging 5.2 points (40.9% FG, 40.5% 3-PT, 81.8% FT), 3.6 rebounds, 0.97 blocks and 17.8 minutes in 34 games (2 starts) ... Led the Wildcats with 33 total blocks ... First on team and fourth in the Pac-12 Conference in 3-point percentage (40.5%).

More information from an evaluation by Kyle Nelson of Draft Express...

Grant Jerrett arrived in Tucson as a McDonald's All-American and the 10th ranked player in the 2012 high school class. While the class of 2012 has had a rough transition from high school to the NCAA (and is considered to be one of the weaker classes in recent memory), Jerrett nevertheless struggled to live up to his lofty high-school billing, logging just 17.8 minutes per game in a crowded frontcourt with projected second round draft pick Solomon Hill and talented fellow freshmen Kaleb Taczewski and Brandon Ashley, averaging 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

With that in mind, Jerrett's decision to leave Arizona after his freshman season and enter the 2013 NBA Draft came as a surprise to just about everybody in the basketball world. With Ashley and Taczewski returning, and Aaron Gordon and Rondae Jefferson on their way, minutes might have been even harder to come by in 2013-2014, but there was consensus on the fact that Jerrett didn't show much as a freshman to prove that he's ready for the NBA.

...

Jerrett is, first and foremost, a jump shooter and a very good one at that. At 6'10 and as a freshman, he distinguished himself as one of the truly elite perimeter shooters in all of college basketball, let alone among big men in our database, where he made 40.5% of his 5.1 3-point attempts per 40 minutes. It is worth noting that he made 42.4% of his catch-and-shoot jumpers, as well, which is how he would be expected to utilize his jumper at the next level. On film, he shows solid mechanics, and while his setup is a tad deliberate, there is no doubt that he has the size and skill to knock down spot-up jump shots at the next level.

Additionally, it's worth pointing out that Jerrett made 72% of his perimeter jumpers at the Pre-Draft Combine, and proved himself to be one of the combine's top shooters, tied with UNC's Reggie Bullock and ahead of Cal's Allen Crabbe.

In four seasons at Syracuse, averaged 10.6 points (43.2% FG, 75.1% FT), 2.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.99 steals and 26.8 minutes in 147 games ... As a senior, helped lead the Orange to the team's first NCAA Tournament Final Four since the 2002-03 season ... Averaged career highs in points (13.6), rebounds (3.4), assists (3.6), steals (1.25) and minutes (33.8) as a senior

All vitals/information courtesy of DraftExpress.com and notes courtesy of Casey Holdahl at Blazers.com, who has more right here.

The Blazers opened the pre-draft process by working out six players on Thursday. Blazers GM Neil Olshey took questions about the pre-draft process and Blazers coach Terry Stotts explained his role in the workouts.

Only one of Friday's four workout participants is a top-100 player. Olshey said Thursday that the organization's pre-draft process would include evaluation of prospects who might fit best on the Idaho Stampede, the Blazers' D-League affiliate.

We also have Idaho now which is a different situation than we've had in the past and certainly different from where I came from. We're not always just looking for guys for the Blazers, we're looking for guys that might be development guys that might go undrafted that we would like to be part of our minor league system.

The Blazers are expected to run a total of nine or 10 workouts in advance of the 2013 NBA Draft, set for June 27. The Blazers hold the No. 10 pick in the first round and three second-round picks (No. 39, 40 and 45).

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter