Smart guys, one and all.

The feeling with all of them was that basketball wasn't the only thing they could do.

That's not to say the Jazz have always insisted on smart guys. They've had their share of screwballs, knuckleheads and dumbbells, too. Some just made bad decisions, like Creighton center Chad Gallagher, who went looking for an apartment, rather than showing up for an optional practice while on a 10-day contract. Luther Wright tried to smuggle a puppy onto a commercial jet.

On the other hand, there was Walter Palmer, a Dartmouth graduate, and John Amaechi, who was a first team academic All-American from Vanderbilt and Penn State.

Whether there is a concerted effort on the Jazz's part to hire Stanford guys is doubtful, but it doesn't hurt. General manager Kevin O'Connor said he thinks "the level of guys who go to Stanford and the discipline they establish with the school helps."

Yet O'Connor made it clear he didn't trade Jason Hart for Knight just to get a bright guy, or even a locker room leader.

"If you don't compete on the court," noted O'Connor, "it's very difficult to help in the locker room."

Competing in a road trip crossword contest?

Knight should be good at that, too.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com