Published: June 26, 2009 10:28 pm      

BASKETBALL: Flynn selection is Falls' finest hour

NEW YORK — We knew they were special times. It’s the magnitude we never grasped.

A team that first dominated the Niagara Frontier League, then a power-packed independent schedule got its ultimate validation on Thursday at Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theater when former Niagara Falls High School point guard Jonny Flynn was among the first names called off by National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern at the 2009 Draft.

Flynn became the highest drafted local hoopster on Thursday, taken with the No. 6 pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a surprising move. The Timberwolves had just taken Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio, widely regarded as the top point guard in the draft, at No. 5, leading to speculation that one of the two guards could be dealt. The T-Wolves later took another point guard, North Carolina’s Ty Lawson, with the 18th pick, but dealt him to Denver before the night was complete.

Flynn, who was New York state’s Mr. Basketball in 2006, said he’s prepared to give Rubio tips on how to handle the cold weather.

“He’s coming from Spain and I don’t think it ever snows over there,” Flynn said. “I can give him what kind of clothes to buy and what snowshoes to but. Things like that. It’ll be fun.”

Flynn admitted that the selection ended a dramatic climb in his stock where he went from a marginal first-round pick into one of the first choices taken.

“It’s been a crazy ride over the past two months,” he said. “I shot up the draft boards when I first said I was coming out.

“It was definitely a roller coaster ride.”

His coach at Syracuse, Jim Boeheim, was frank with the budding superstar after spending time as an assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in China last year.

“When I got back from coaching (New Orleans guard) Chris Paul, I'm going like, ‘You’re not that good,’ ” Boeheim said. “I don't think college kids realize how tough the NBA is.”

Still, Flynn’s pre-draft workouts continued to impress scouts, who realized his defensive capabilities were greater than Syracuse’s zone defense displayed. At Niagara Falls, Flynn was known as a top defender and he got a chance to show those skills in various combines.

He didn’t get any specific indication from the Timberwolves, however, that they were more eager than other teams to select him. Flynn was projected as high as No. 4 and as low as No. 13.

“They just said I was really high on their draft board, but a lot of teams tell you that,” Flynn said. “A lot of teams don’t really show their cards until the night of the draft. So you’ve kind of sort of got to take what these teams are saying in one ear and through the other because they could be telling four, five six different players the same thing.

“The one time you can tell if a team is serious is when they pick you. And I guess Minnesota was really high on me.”

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266. The Associated Press contributed to this report.