When the moment finally came Thursday night, the crowded room was quiet and the man of the hour was nowhere to be seen.

ESPN's coverage of the NBA draft had gone to commercial with the New Orleans Hornets on the clock for their second-round selection. When the network returned from the station break at about 10 p.m., the crawler at the bottom of the screen silently told everyone at Trademarc's Sports Grill in west Mobile what they had been waiting to hear.

James Lang is now a professional basketball player.

The Hornets made Lang, a 6-foot-9, 305-pound center who played at Shaw High School before transferring to Birmingham's Central Park Christian two years ago, the 48th pick of the draft and completed his jump from high school to the NBA.

As it turns out, it's a jump that will take only two hours by car.