By David Aldridge
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 29, 1990

The Washington Bullets used the second round of the NBA draft for classic big-little selections last night, taking 6-foot-11 forward-center Greg Foster of Texas-El Paso with the 35th pick overall, then high-scoring guard A.J. English of Virginia Union two choices later.

Washington's coaches were almost giddy afterward with the athleticism of Foster, who averaged 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds last season for UTEP. He played two seasons for the Miners after transferring from UCLA, where he had limited playing time.

They hadn't expected he'd be available for their No. 35 pick, but the slew of guards that went early in the draft forced a number of big men into late first-round and early second-round choices. The Bullets didn't even interview Foster, talking with Dartmouth's 7-1 center, Walter Palmer, who went to Arlington's Washington-Lee High School. But Utah took Palmer with the 33rd pick, two choices ahead of Foster.

General Manager John Nash said the Bullets talked with a couple of teams with picks between Nos. 20 and 25 about moving up into the first round, and that "we still intend to have some dialogue with one of those teams who selected a player they're not certain they'll keep, but are going to evaluate."

He didn't indicate whom, but a source late last night indicated the team is Portland, which selected Duke center Alaa Abdelnaby with the 25th pick.

Said Bullets Coach Wes Unseld: "The reason I had Foster at 35 instead of English was simply because, looking at our roster as it stands now, we've got inside positions on our team of Bernard King, Mark Alarie, Tom Hammonds. They all, if you look at their size, stature and demeanor, are basically {small forwards}. I was looking for a strong player at one of those positions."

English, who is 6-3, was the Division II player of the year, averaging 33.4 points on nearly 50 percent shooting from the floor. Virginia Union finished 27-4 last season and was ranked sixth in the country. In the Portsmouth Invitational, a postseason all-star tournament, he averaged 32.7 points in the first three games.

"I couldn't be in a better situation," English said, "being that I played college basketball right in Richmond and being from Wilmington, Delaware, where my family and friends can come and watch me play."

The Bullets were near the bottom in three-point shooting last season. Though English didn't live for the three-pointer -- only 65 of his 333 field goals were three-pointers -- he shot .451 from that range.

"I feel comfortable out there," he said. "At that level, they're looking for consistency. I'm going to work on being a more consistent outside shooter. I like the two guard. I like to score. But I think I can feel comfortable if I can play the one enough to get adjusted to it."

Atlanta, which had talked long about getting a shooting guard, had the pick between Washington's two selections, No. 36. But the Hawks opted for UCLA's Trevor Wilson, and the Bullets were able to snatch up English.

English chose Virginia Union over Villanova and UNLV, because he would have had to sit out a year before playing at those schools. He had played with Division I talent before, on a select team including Syracuse's Billy Owens and LeRon Ellis, UNLV's Greg Anthony and Shawn Kemp of Seattle.

He had been interviewed by Detroit and the Los Angeles Lakers, but those teams took Texas guard Lance Blanks and Clemson forward Elden Campbell, respectively. Campbell had been first on the Bullets' wish list.

Washington also interviewed Blanks and Dayton guard Negele Knight. And in taking English, the Bullets passed up other guards such as Virginia Tech's Bimbo Coles and St. John's guard Boo Harvey. But if English can make the adjustment, he may turn out to have been a steal.

"He has a chance," Philadelphia player personnel director Bob Weinhauer said of English. "He's a tough, hardnosed kid who will not back down from anybody."

He's only 175 pounds, but Nash described him as "wiry" and said he could play both the point and off-guard positions. If so, the Bullets could occasionally spot Walker at the off-guard spot, giving them a decent three-guard rotation.

Foster is an athletic big man who is not the best rebounder in the world. But after having the more plodding type of guy at power forward and center in the last couple of seasons, Washington is taking a chance on a guy who can run.

"The biggest problem we had last year was we had trouble stopping people inside," Unseld said. "We had to rotate and double down on people we shouldn't have to rotate on. Consequently, we wore a lot of people down, like {guard} Darrell Walker."

"He's not an automatic NBA player," Nash said. "But he has a chance. And because of his physical play, he's going to make life miserable for someone in training camp."