Songaila celebrates with a teammate at Wake Forest. (Photo courtesy of Wake Forest)

BOSTON (June 27, 2002) -- In a draft in which a record number of international players were selected, the Celtics met the emerging trend halfway on Wednesday night at the 2002 NBA Draft.

In a basketball world that has increasingly moved towards selecting professionals of every sort -- whether they come straight out of high school, from Europe, Asia or South America -- the Celtics obtained a hybrid.

"We tricked 慹m up," joked Celtics General Manager Chris Wallace at the end of the evening. "Thought we抎 go exotic. We went ACC." By taking Darius Songaila with their only selection in the draft, the Celtics attained a rare commodity in terms of basketball skills and make-up.

Born in Lithuania, Songaila was spotted by U.S. coaches while playing for his country's junior Olympic team. He earned a scholarship to New Hampton Prep, a school in New Hampshire, where he spent a season before matriculating to Wake Forest.

Songaila enjoyed great success as a Demon Deacon, leading the school in his senior season in scoring, rebounding and free throw percentage. His play was a central reason why the school qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. Songaila earned Honorable Mention All-American honors in his senior year.

Fans of the college game will no doubt remember Songaila from his performances last March in Wake Forest's run to the ACC Tournament Final, as well as their two-game run into the NCAA Tournament.

"Teams always tell you this, but we really didn's think he'd be there at that point," said Wallace. "We thought he'd go a little earlier than that, but these drafts just drift off in meandering ways and sometimes they work against players.

"There were a lot of surprising things in the this draft. No mock draft had Fredrick Jones going at 14 to Indiana. That kind of sent things in to a tizzy. Dan Dickau is someone who never thought he抎 slide to (number) 28. There were guys who came out of school early didn't get selected, high school guys who got shut out, other than Stoudamire. The amount of international players selected pushed back the 40 or so best college players." Wallace compared Songaila's game to that of Hanno Mottola or Chris Crawford, both big men known for their ability to knock down the outside shot. But Songaila also has a rugged side, exemplified in his 19 point, 13 rebound performance against Oregon in the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament. While he can hit the three, he doesn't mind mixing it up underneath.

Whether Songaila will contribute to the Celtics' cause next season remains to be seen. The questions are not about his talent, but rather what Boston does when the league's free agency period begins on July 1. With four players on the Celtics roster whose contracts are up, and with salary cap limitations, how the team balances its roster space with their financial constraints will play out over the next few months -- if not sooner.

Two things have already determined, though. Songaila will have a chance to show his stuff in front of the Celtics coaches at the Shaw's Pro Summer League, and he will be out to carve a place for himself on the regular season roster.

"We don't want to rule out any possibility at this early juncture until we see him play at the Shaw's Summer League," said Wallace. 揃ut the roster confines are going to make this a tough team to make for an outside player." 揑抦 looking forward to getting there and seeing what I can do in the summer league,?said Songaila. ?I hope to be in training camp and make the team. I want to try to make the team right now because that is my dream. I want to go there and give it my best shot. I think I am ready."