Hart anxious to learn fate

For Villanova grad Josh Hart, the toughest part of the NBA Draft experience has not been the travel or the numerous workouts in front of coaches and general managers to show he has what it takes to play in the league. It’s the uncertainty. “I’m not nervous, just anxious,” Hart said after working out for the Sixers Thursday morning at the team’s practice facility. “This is the first time I have no idea where I’m going to be in two weeks. You want to just find out where you’re going. I wish somebody was like, ‘You know what, Josh, you’re going here. You’re going at this pick.’ I wish I knew that now.”

Hart will find out next Thursday where he will spend the next part of his life when the NBA holds its annual draft at the Bar-

clays Center in Brooklyn. He is projected as a late first-round pick, depending on which mock draft you believe. More than likely, though, he will go somewhere in the second round.

Hart certainly could be a player the Sixers take with one of the four picks the team has in the second round, provided he’s still on the board. In addition to the No. 3 overall choice, the Sixers also own the picks No. 36, 39, 46 and 50.

As for Hart’s preference, that was easy. He has always aimed high.

“To be the No. 1 pick,” Hart said with a smile before backing off just a little bit. “You just want to hear your name called. The goal is to hear your name called, no matter if you’re a top 10 pick, a top 30 pick, top 40, whatever it is, you want to hear your name called.”

To achieve that dream the 6-5 guard has traveled the country to show off his skills for a third of the teams in the league. The session with the Sixers was his 10th individual workout. Since May 15, he has also worked out for the Pacers, Nets, Magic, Jazz, Suns, Lakers, Trail Blazers, Thunder and Kings. Hart also held a pro day in Los Angeles and was at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago from May 9-14. He’s scheduled to visit Atlanta, San Antonio and make a return trip to Phoenix before the draft.

“I’m booked until the 19th or the 20th, and then I’m done,” Hart said. “I have to let my body get a couple of days rest.”

Hart was one of seven players the Sixers brought into the team’s practice facility for a pair of pre-draft workouts.

The morning session, which included Hart, was like a Villanova reunion. Wildcats coach Jay Wright, fresh off a vacation to Jamaica, sat with Sixers coach Brett Brown and GM Bryan Colangelo and watched the session from the sideline.

Sixers assistant Billy Lange, who had two stints on Wright’s staff at Villanova, ran the session. Two of Hart’s former teammates were there, too. Forward Darryl Reynolds out of Lower Merion and guard Dylan Ennis, who played two years on the Main Line before transferring to Oregon, also were put through their paces.

“I think it was the first time he’s actually seen me play,” Hart said of Wright. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but it’s always good to see your coach on the sideline.”

Oregon’s Dillon Brooks, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Davidson’s Jack Gibbs and Tidjan Keita of Thetford Academy, rounded out the six-man workout. The Sixers put Malik Monk through an individual workout in the afternoon. Monk is projected to be a top 10 pick and is a possibility for the Sixers at No. 3.

Hart did not shoot the ball well during the 3-on-3 portion of the workout, but said that was to be expected from someone who changed his shooting technique in the last few months.

“You go through growing pains (when you change your shot) and today was a little bit of a growing pain,” Hart said. “But even if I missed shots I wanted to show that my jump shot is different, more fluid, smoother.”

While his shot was off, Hart did display the intangible aspects of his game that helped him lead the Wildcats to a national title as a junior and earn All-American and Big East Player of the Year honors as a senior.

“Josh showed who he is,” Wright said. “He showed that he can shoot, drive, pass, defend, handle the ball and play hard. He showed that he’s a complete player.”

Hart hopes that is enough to hear his named called next Thursday.