Had an interesting discussion yesterday during MSU's post-practice interviews and Tom Izzo's weekly press conference on whether Drew Neitzel is a future NBA player.

Izzo, to no one's surprise, said yes, he believes Neitzel, all 6-foot of him (OK, probably more 5-11, but he's listed at 6-foot) is a future pro point guard, and Neitzel, MSU's leading scorer at 18.6 ppg, said he hopes to play in the NBA one day - and prove another legion of doubters wrong.

I was skeptical at the start of the year. Neitzel isn't the quickest guard in college hoops, he's not great at getting his own shot, and he's not a lock-down defender, though he's more than adequate in that area.

Still, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced Izzo is right. Look around the NBA at guys like Travis Diener (in his second year with the Magic after a successful career at Marquette) and even one-dimensional former Duke gua

rd J.J. Redick, the 11th pick in last year's NBA draft. Neitzel compares favorably to both. He has great court vision, even better basketball instincts, and was shooting a solid 43 percent from 3-point range entering Tuesday's game.

NBAdraft.net predicts Neitzel as an early second-round pick in the 2008 NBA draft. I'm not forecasting all-stardom for MSU's leading man, but he'll carve out a nice little career for himself as a backup point guard who goes for the occasional 15 points, mark my words.