Morrison: He’s the people’s choice

PORTLAND – As it turns out, Adam Morrison’s mustache has some staying power.

The former Gonzaga University All-American, who left school early to declare for this year’s NBA draft, was one of four former college standouts to go through a predraft workout for the Portland Trail Blazers here Thursday.

While Portland coach Nate McMillan refused to comment on any of the four top draft prospects who participated in the two-hour workout, a local radio station made it clear it likes Morrison by staging a “Draft The ‘Stache” rally across the street from the Blazers’ practice facility.

“That was pretty cool,” Morrison said of the promotional rally, which drew a crowd of about 40 revelers hoping to get a look at last year’s top Division I scorer and the wispy mustache that earned him almost as much national acclaim as his considerable basketball talents.

“It’s cool the Portland area is excited about this workout.”

McMillan, too, was pumped about the chance to watch Morrison go against the likes of Connecticut’s Rudy Gay, Arizona’s Hassan Adams and Washington’s Brandon Roy in a strenuous session that that included some physical testing, 1-on-1 challenges and a variety of shooting drills.

“This is probably one of the better groups we’ve had in, as far as the talent level,” McMillan said. “And they competed. They played hard – some exciting basketball, but we expected that.”

Morrison, who averaged a nation-best 28.1 points per game as a junior at GU last winter, did not seem particularly pleased with his showing.

“It felt all right,” he said. “I didn’t shoot it as well as I’d like, but everybody played pretty good. It was a good workout.”

The Blazers have the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft, which will be held June 28 in New York, but there is speculation they might try to trade up in an effort to land Morrison, who is expected to be a top-three pick.

Blazers owner Paul Allen attended the workout, and said it was the first one he had attended. But he warned against reading anything into his presence, saying he was just happy to get a chance to see four quality prospects like Morrison, Gay, Adams and Roy perform on the same floor.

Morrison, who has been living and working out in Woodland Hills, Calif., since announcing his intentions to declare for the draft, said he will be in New York for the draft, but gave no indication of where he might fall.

But he said he would have no problem wearing a Blazers uniform.

“It’d be great,” he said of the prospect of playing in Portland. “Four hours from home, a quick flight back, would be great. And the fans around here know who I am, so it would be a good way to come in.”

Morrison worked out early for the Charlotte Bobcats, who have the No. 3 pick in the upcoming draft, and has workouts scheduled in the near future with the Chicago Bulls, who will pick No. 2, and the Toronto Raptors, who own the No. 1 pick.