Kevinn Pinkney did a lot of the dirty work for Nevada's basketball team for four years - play defense, block shots and rebound - which made him a fan favorite.
The 6-foot-10 Pinkney is hoping those abilities earn him a spot on the Washington Wizards roster.
Pinkney was one of four players that the Wizards signed earlier this week to their training camp roster. Center James Lang, swingman Roger Mason and forward Mike Hall also were signed. Training camp starts Oct. 3 in Virginia.
"These are hard-working players who will help make training camp competitive," said Ernie Grunfeld from the Wizards' front office.
Pinkney said he was excited about signing with the Wizards, who boast two of the premier players in the NBA in Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas. Pinkney, who averaged 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds a game his senior year at Nevada, chose the Wizards over the Portland Trailblazers, who he played for during the Toshiba Las Vegas Summer League.
"They (Portland) wanted me to come to their training camp, too," said Pinkney, who played in Poland and France last year. "I picked the Wizards over the Blazers just because I think they have a couple of spots open, and Portland didn't have any spots open. Washington has at least one spot open."
Pinkney averaged 6 points and 3 rebounds a game for the Blazers' summer team, and the former Nevada star said that opened some doors for him.
"I think I did real good." Pinkney said. "I played good interior defense and rebounded. Those are the things that I needed to do.
"I talked to Grunfeld, and he was letting me know what the team needs. They want me doing the same things I did in college. They aren't looking for anybody to score."
Pinkney will go up against the likes of Jamison, 6-7 Caron Butler, 6-8 Jarvis Hayes, 6-11 Andray Blatch, 6-8 Michael Ruffin, 6-10 Vladimir Veremeenk, 6-8 Darius Songalia and 6-6 Awvee Storey, who surprisingly made the squad last year.
The Wizards figure to keep four or five forwards. Teams can invite 18 to camp, and they are allowed to have 15 on their roster during the season, though the league doesn't require them to.
Pinkney said there may also be a couple other foreign players in the mix, but he doesn't know if they are coming to training camp this year or not.
Pinkney's experience was bittersweet in Europe. He lost nearly 20 pounds, as he didn't exactly take a liking to European food.
"I enjoyed the experience (most of the time)," said Pinkney, who is back up to 235 pounds. "Me and the coaches in France didn't see eye-to-eye on things. With the tam in Poland, my stats were up and I got more experience."
Pinkney said that if the Wizards don't keep him, he is likely to look into the NBA Developmental League, and if that doesn't work out, he's interested in going back to Europe.