A pair of Hoosiers landed in the first round in Thursday’s NBA Draft. Eric Gordon became the first top 10 pick out of IU since Calbert Cheaney in 1993, going No. 7 to the Los Angeles Clippers. Birmingham native D.J. White was selected with the 29th overall pick by the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons then traded White to the Seattle Supersonics for two second-round picks. We’ve gathered some links to coverage and reaction from the draft and look forward to your comments.

• Clippers glad to have Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Times)
• Clippers select Eric Gordon (Clippers.com)
• IU’s Eric Gordon picked 7th by LA Clippers (Indianapolis Star)
• Gordon goes to L.A., but won’t go Hollywood (Indianaplis Star)
• Clippers get their man in Gordon (Pasadena Star-News)
• Pistons deal White to Sonics (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• The “D.J. White is a Piston” post (Detroit Bad Boys)
• Don’t assume Pistons blew their draft (Detroit Free Press)
• Pistons take White, trade him (The Detroit News)
• Sonics land White in trade with Detroit (Seattle Times blog)
• Sonics add D.J. White (Supersonicsoul)

Let’s be honest: All you wanted was out of today was to come home, maybe have dinner with the family and sit down and watch the NBA Draft. Instead, a new NCAA allegation has surfaced and once again, a dark cloud is forming over Bloomington. So there’s a lot to talk about and here’s a new avenue for you to get your thoughts and questions across. We’ve set up a live blog and your questions and comments are welcome below. We can talk about the draft or Rick Greenspan’s being forced out resignation. Here we go.

Our boy EJ was on Rome is Burning this afternoon and here’s the video, courtesy of the World Wide Leader:

Nothing earth shattering (as is the case with every Gordon interview), but I did like the comment about Illinois where he said “both coaches knew what was going on.” You hear that Bruce? You knew what was up. Now please, move along. It was also mildly disappointing that he didn’t throw Sampson under the bus, but we all know that’s never going to happen. Rest assured Eric, I’ll take care of that for you for the foreseeable future.

Early this afternoon on the Herd with Colin Cowherd, Andy Katz broke down the top 12 picks of the NBA Draft and he had our boy Eric Gordon going to the Knicks with the sixth pick.

Most of the mock drafts are in agreement (except this one) that Gordon won’t get past Milwaukee with the eighth pick, so it’s looking like either the Knicks, Clippers or Bucks for EJ.

Of those three situations, I probably like New York the best. Mike D’Antoni’s style seems to fit Gordon well and the chance to play in a market with endless endorsement opportunities is also a huge plus.

Milwaukee, on the other hand, could be a disaster if Gordon is forced to answer Kelvin Sampson questions his entire rookie season.

By the way, Cowherd, friend of all bloggers, wasn’t shy with his praise for Gordon and his potential to succeed at the next level: “Eric Gordon will be a 10-time All-Star. He’ll be a star in the NBA…fast.”

For my money, the best college hoops analyst out there, Mr. Jay Bilas, broke down Eric Gordon and D.J. White as part of the World Wide Leader’s NBA Draft coverage. Nothing ground breaking here, but Bilas calls Gordon the most explosive scorer in the draft and compares White to a young James Worthy prior to his foot injury. Anyway, here’s Bilas:

In an effort to keep up with higher payroll costs directly associated with PostmanR’s presence, the World Wide Leader is offering a free trial of Insider in hopes that you’ll like it and then shell out $39.95 for an annual subscription. Pay for something on the Internet? Ridiculous!

Anyhow, Chad Ford had this to say about our boy D.J. and his draft stock:

It was surprising that White skipped the Orlando predraft camp, but it appears that move isn’t hurting him. He has worked out for the Nets, Magic and Wizards and has more than held his own against some of the more heralded big men prospects in the draft — Darrell Arthur and Marreese Speights.

He measures well at 6-foot-9 in shoes with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, and he’s tested very well in some of the athletic drills. And while talk of a four-year senior being hot is odd these days, remember that White is still just 21 years old — only a few months older than O.J. Mayo.

Perhaps D.J. to Detroit at 29 was selling him a bit short. Although White could still end up in the early second round, Washington (18), New Jersey (21) and Orlando (22) could all give him a serious look. If he goes that high in a draft this stockpiled with talent, Mr. White will be doing very well for himself. That’s why they tell you to stay in school, kids!

With all of the NCAA allegations/recruiting news going on in Bloomington over the past month, we haven’t had a chance to update you on Eric Gordon and his NBA Draft stock. Gordon is down in Orlando participating in the “combine” portion of the pre-draft camp. Rather than working out, he’s being tested for strength, agility, speed and size.

He’s also going through some interviews and here’s what he told Jeff Rabjohns of The Indianapolis Star about his old buddy Kelvin Sampson:

“We had a real good relationship. After all the stuff I’ve been through in college with Illinois and Indiana and all that and for me to play for him my first year of college, we got pretty close. It’d be neat (to play for him in the NBA), but there’s a lot of other good coaches out there. I don’t want to just be specific on playing for him.”

Let me translate. Since I’m a really nice kid and don’t want to throw Kelvin under the bus, I’m going to say that I enjoyed playing for him, but I’m really looking forward to a fresh start. If I was Gordon, the last thing I’d want during my rookie season is to answer questions about IU and Sampson.

Meanwhile, ESPN draft guru Chad Ford has the latest on Gordon’s wrist and a list of teams that are interested in his services:

Gordon said his wrist is totally healed and he’s back to being a dead-eye behind the arc. The thing that stuck out to me about Gordon was his size. He is so wide for a guard. He looks like a 6-foot-4 power forward. Given his athleticism and quickness, that size will serve him well in the pros. He’s significantly bigger than Mayo or Jerryd Bayless.

Sources say that Gordon will likely fall to either Seattle at No. 4, the Knicks at No. 6 or the Clippers at No. 7. On potential, he could be the third- or fourth-best player in this draft. If his jumper is falling in workouts, his stock will be quickly repaired.

If Gordon shows that his wrist is 100% and has the range he exhibited early in the season, I see no reason why O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless would go ahead of him. Gordon might be the best pure scorer in the draft and his body is more than NBA ready. Let’s just hope he doesn’t go to the disaster also known as the Knicks.

Stock Watch is Inside the Hall’s look at the NBA draft prospectus for Eric Gordon and D.J. White.

With a little more than two months remaining before the NBA Draft takes place, some of the best mock drafts are starting to trickle onto the Web. Here’s a glance at a few of the best out there and where they have Gordon and White pegged at this point (it’s important to remember that until the draft lottery is conducted, the teams these sites have listed are relatively meaningless):

– Draft Express: Eric Gordon No. 7 to the Milwaukee Bucks; D.J. White No. 42 to the Sacramento Kings

– NBAdraft.net: Eric Gordon No. 7 to the Milwaukee Bucks; D.J. White No. 31 to the Minnesota Timberwolves

– HoopsHype: Eric Gordon No. 7 to the LA Clippers; D.J. White not listed in the first round and Hoops Hype does not do a mock draft of the second round

– InsideHoops.com: Eric Gordon No. 6 to the LA Clippers; D.J. White listed as “In the lower first round mix.”

– CollegeHoops.net: Eric Gordon No. 5; D.J. White No. 31

– Hoops World: Eric Gordon No. 6 to the LA Clippers; D.J. White No. 34 to the Minnesota Timberwolves

A couple of quick observations from this exercise: First, Gordon seems to have fallen behind Jerryd Bayless of Arizona on nearly every draft board. Before the second half of the season, most of us thought it was going to be Gordon vs. Derrick Rose for the top guard in the draft. Now, it appears Gordon is the No. 3 guard in the draft and a couple of boards have him below O.J. Mayo. Shooting 32 percent and committing 4.2 turnovers per game over your last seven games will do that.

Second, D.J. White is not a sure thing to land in the first round which is hard to believe given the kind of season he had. However, when you take into consideration that White doesn’t fit the prototype for a true power forward in the NBA, you have an explanation on why many teams might shy away from taking him in the opening round.