UCLA guard Jrue Holiday is hoping to be the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

"I'm shooting for No. 1 to be honest," Holiday told The New Post. "I'm definitely shooting for the sky."

The Clippers have publicly stated that they will use the No. 1 pick on Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin.

Tyler Hansbrough doesn't care where he is drafted next month, and feels he has a lot of doubters to prove wrong.

"Doubt me all you want, but I think I have a lot to prove," Hansbrough told the Associated Press.

He averaged 20.3 points and 8.6 rebounds in his career at North Carolina, and many have projected him a middle first-round pick.

"I'm not worried about it," Hansbrough said. "It's just a bunch of people saying whatever they want. I think I'll prove a lot of people wrong.

"They kind of doubted me in high school and said I wouldn't be a good college player. I'll bet a lot of people wouldn't have thought I would have wound up being the ACC all-time leading scorer. They can doubt me or whatever, but I got the job done and won a national championship."

Ty Lawson hasn't been drawing much positive interest at the NBA's combine in Chicago.

"Injury prone," one assistant general manager told DraftExpress.com of Lawson.

"A backup point guard ... he's 100% behind Jonny Flynn," another NBA representative told the site.

Lawson is currently projected as a mid-first round pick, and RealGM's Christopher Reina has him slotted at the 15th pick in his latest mock draft.

Derrick Brown is officially staying in the draft and not returning to Xavier for his senior season.

Brown has already graduated from school and the fact that Sean Miller left the school for Arizona factored into the decision.

"I feel I was going to do this regardless," said Brown. "Coach Miller is my guy."

Tyreke Evans played primarily point guard at Memphis and it is still unclear which position he will fit best at in the NBA.

"I'm a combo guard," said Evans, who was excited about possibly teaming with Gilbert Arenas in Washington. "I think I'd fit perfectly. If they get healthy, they'll be back as one of the top teams in the NBA. I wouldn't mind playing behind Gilbert, watching, learning from him. I'm not the type of player that's going to go in there and complain about playing time. If I have to wait my turn, I'll wait my turn."

James Harden admitted to checking mock drafts to see his projections and also disputed claims that he isn't athletic enough.

"I can jump," said Harden.  "I probably didn't show it as much as they wanted to this season, but I think I can get up there with those guys," said the left-handed Harden, who compared his game to a combination of Manu Gin?bili and Paul Pierce. "I'm here now, so why not try to be the best player that ever played the game, or be in the Hall of Fame."

Speaking at the NBA Draft Combine on Thursday, Tyler Hansbrough said he believes in the comparisons to fellow Missouri native David Lee.

"That's who I compare myself to, a rebounder, an energy player, a Missouri guy," Hansbrough said.

"I'll go higher than (30)," Hansbrough said. "David's proven he's a lot better than a 30th pick. He was a beast in high school."

University of Florida guard Nick Calathes has decided not to return to UF next season, but instead take his game overseas.

The Orlando Sentinel has learned Calathes signed with Panathinaikos of the EuroLeague on Friday.

Neither Calathes nor his family would comment on the development, pending announcements from Panathinaikos and UF. Gators coach Billy Donovan apparently was informed of his player's decision Friday night, with at least one source saying a contract was signed.

The deal, sources said, will pay Calathes around $1.1 million per year, in addition to providing him with a home, car and tax credits, making for a total package commensurate to what the NBA rookie salary scale provides a late-lottery selection.

The deal also reportedly has a buyout option should Calathes remain in the upcoming NBA Draft and decide to join that team down the road.

Joe Ingles, who played on the Australian national team with Andrew Bogut during the 2008 Olympics, is looking to impress NBA teams with his talents.

On Thursday, he took part in a six-player workout with the Bucks at the Cousins Center.

"It's been a pretty long two weeks," Ingles, 21, said.

He will also take part in the NBA draft combine in Chicago next week and also will be in Italy in early June for the Reebok Eurocamp.

Ricky Rubio has some leverage in influencing which team selects him due to a necessary buyout from his team in Spain.  His American agent Dan Fegan tried to shape where Yi Jianlian was selected in 2007, but was unsuccessful due to Milwaukee taking a hard line and no real alternative in his foreign contract.

?Rubio doesn?t want to go to Memphis, and he especially does not want to pay money out of his own pocket with that huge buyout for the honor of doing so," said a source that spoke to DraftExpress.com.  "Fegan wants him in L.A., and if he can?t have him there, he wants him in Sacramento. Definitely not Oklahoma City.

?He?ll pull out if he doesn?t like what he?s hearing,? continued the source. ?Or he can stay in and force the Grizzlies to call his bluff?would they really take him knowing that he may never come over? That?s one way to get him to fall to three.?