June 9, 2006

By Don Hunt, Mail Tribune 

Not in his wildest dreams did Eric Fiegi ever picture himself auditioning for an NBA team.

But that's precisely what the former South Medford High and Corban College (Ore.) standout found himself doing on May 25 when he and three other pro basketball hopefuls went through a Portland Trail Blazers tryout.

Afterward, Fiegi huddled with Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

"He told me I needed to be more physical and more aggressive, but that he really liked my offensive skills and the way I shot the ball," Fiegi said.

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Fiegi has caught the attention of Blazer scouts the past two months after averaging 33.7 points per game for the Salem Stampede, a new minor league team in the International Basketball League.

Fiegi's impressive numbers for the Stampede come on the heels of a spectacular career at Corban in which he twice led the nation in scoring at the NAIA Division II level.

"I'm not getting double- and triple-teamed like I did at Corban, but at the same time I'm going against guys who are usually taller or more athletic than I am," Fiegi said of his experience with the Stampede. "I'm using more footwork, putting the ball on the floor a little more, using some shot fakes. You've got to adjust your game to the level you're playing at."

Fiegi relishes the race-horse basketball that has defined IBL play. The Salem team, which has a 9-9 record with two games left on its schedule, has averaged more than 122 points per game. Fiegi exploded for a season-high 50 during a 133-126 overtime loss to the Seattle Mountaineers on May 19. One of his teammates, Ryan Skinner, had 61 in a game last Saturday.

"We scored 150 as a team the other night -- you can't score that many points and not have fun," said Fiegi, who earns a modest salary for his efforts. "Everyone is running the court, flying around and dunking the ball. It's a blast."

The Stampede added another familiar name to its roster last Friday when former Southern Oregon University standout Shea Washington joined the team.

In his tryout with the Blazers, Fiegi went against 6-8, 245-pound Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech, who's projected to be a late first-round pick in next month's NBA draft. Fiegi also matched up against a player from George Washington University and a player from Stanford.

All were power forwards.

"The biggest question I had going in was, would I be able to hang in there with these high-profile guys?" Fiegi said. "I didn't do so well on some of the physical testing -- jump reach and that sort of thing -- but I was definitely able to play my game. I think I was the best shooter and maybe had the best footwork of anyone there.

"But these other guys were very athletic. It was kind of an eye-opener."

Fiegi, who is rated as the No. 2 minor league player in the nation by ProBasketballNews.com, left enough of an impression to get another tryout with the Blazers. He was scheduled to visit Portland last Thursday and hook up with Josh Boone, the power forward from Connecticut who's projected as a top-20 pick in the draft.

The tryout was postponed because of an injury to Boone.

Fiegi believes it's possible the Blazers could ask him to play on their summer league team. But, if nothing else, the tryouts will look good on his résumé as he prepares to play in Europe in the fall.

Fiegi and his agent, Chicago-based Mike Naiditch, are weighing options in Spain, Italy and Greece.

"I'm going where I can get the best contract," Fiegi said. "I look at these tryouts as a win-win situation. If they (the Blazers) ask me back for another one, great, and if not, I'll add the ones I've got to my résumé.

"I'm just excited to work out for an NBA team. When I graduated from South Medford four years ago, that wasn't even a dream. And now it's a reality."

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