The San Antonio Spurs selected Calvert Hall graduate and Perry Hall resident Jack McClinton in the second round and 51st overall of Thursday's NBA draft, which still doesn't guarantee the University of Miami star a spot on the Spurs’ roster.

If he does earn his way onto the team, McClinton would be come the third Cardinal to play in the NBA.

Duane Ferrell, a linchpin of Calvert Hall's 1982 national championship squad, was not drafted before joining the Atlanta Hawks in 1988 as a free agent out of Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-7 small forward played 11 years in the league with the Hawks, Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors.

Juan Dixon, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard, just completed his seventh NBA campaign with the Washington Wizards, the same team that drafted him 17th after he led the University of Maryland to the 2002 NCAA title. He has also played for the Portland Trailblazers, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons.

McClinton will begin his prospective NBA career with far less fanfare than his Cardinal predecessors, considering Ferrell was drafted in the same city in which he attended college.

Knowing that second-round selections don't receive guaranteed contracts, McClinton will have to earn a roster spot away from a veteran, which won't be an easy task on a team as talented and successful as the Spurs.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound combo guard, however, has faced long odds before. He wasn't highly recruited out of Calvert Hall and his first year at Siena College wasn't spectacular, either, after a year of prep school at Kent School in Connecticut.

McClinton didn't hit his stride until he transferred to the play for the Hurricanes as sophomore.

He earned First-Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors the past two seasons and averaged 19.3 points as a senior while leading the league in three-point accuracy (.453).

"I have always been the underdog," McClinton said in a phone interview. "So it's really nothing new to me. I am just ready to go out there and work."

The 24-year-old McClinton said the Spurs are the ideal team to draft him. He worked out for 16 NBA teams in a month –- starting in late May -- and San Antonio was the only club to put him through the paces twice.

San Antonio also drafted Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair in the second round (37th overall).

“They just made a trade,” McClinton said of the four-player blockbuster deal with Milwaukee in which 6-foot-7 small forward Richard Jefferson was sent to the Spurs. “Two (roster) spots opened up. I can bring a lot to the table for that organization. I am someone who can put the ball in the basket and play hard on defense.”

McClinton said he looks forward to working with All-Star guard Tony Parker in training camp during October after participating in the NBA Rookie Summer League in July.

“He’s one of the best point guards in the world,” McClinton said. “Being able to interact with him will be great. Whatever he is willing to tell me, I am going to try and work on it, get better and just try to make that organization better.”

For now, McClinton isn't worrying about the future. He is just thrilled that he was drafted.

“When my name got called, I jumped up and ran out of the house,” McClinton said. “I did a couple of sprints up and down the block. I had so much energy. I had to get rid of it.”

McClinton had to wait about 3 1/2 hours before being tabbed by the Spurs after expecting to be taken late in the first round.

“I had heard that I was going (29th) to New York,”  McClinton said. “Then (37th) to San Antonio. It was crazy.”

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