Nate Miles

Nate Miles has already played at five high schools and two colleges. Tonight, the basketball vagabond could learn his next stop. The 6-foot-7 shooting guard hopes to hear his name called during today’s NBA draft (5:30 p.m., ESPN).

Miles declared for the draft after a college career that included only seven games, all coming late during the 2008-09 season at the College of Southern Idaho. He averaged 19.1 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Golden Eagles during that span.

According to ESPN.com, Miles’ draft projection is "second round to undrafted." Most experts believe the latter is the more likely of those two.

"It looks like he’ll be going the free agent route," said CSI head coach Steve Gosar. "All the draft boards I’ve seen have him down the list, outside the two rounds."

Gosar said Miles has worked out for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. The feedback?

"They really like how he shoots the ball," said Gosar.

While Miles has great size for a shooting guard, he weighs in at a lean 170 pounds.

"He’s going to have to put on more weight to withstand the physical play at the next level," said Gosar.

That knock, plus a checkered personal history, could hurt Miles in the eyes of NBA scouts and general managers. He isn’t forecast to be selected today in the mock drafts done by ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, NBADraft.net and DraftExpress.com. Miles and his agent, Merle Scott, could not be reached for comment on the former Golden Eagles’ draft prospects.

With a mother battling alcoholism and a largely absent father, Miles was primarily raised by his grandmother. He bounced around to four different preparatory schools after playing two seasons at Toledo Libby High School in Ohio. Highly recruited, Miles signed with the University of Connecticut in 2006 but didn’t become eligible until 2008.

His stay on the UConn campus was brief as he was expelled in October 2008 after being charged with disorderly conduct and violating a restraining order. All charges were dropped in April, but Miles’ career at UConn derailed. He joined the CSI roster later in October and sat out under NJCAA transfer rules until the final month of the season.

Miles told the Times-News in March that he wanted to return to CSI for his sophomore season. Later that month, he was in the national spotlight after a Yahoo Sports report claimed UConn broke NCAA rules in recruiting him, essentially ruling out a possible return to Connecticut. After averaging 32 points a game for the USA Elite National Team in the 22u World Championships in Tourcoing, France, in mid-April, he decided to turn pro.

Mike Christensen may be reached at [email protected] or 208-735-3239.