And, starting at point guard ... from Ohio State ... number 41 ...

Kosta Koufos.

OK, so that's probably not something you're going to hear from the P.A. announcer in an NBA arena anytime soon. All right, most likely, never.

But once upon a time, say 15 years (and about 4 or 5 feet in height) ago, Koufos — a rookie center for the Utah Jazz — actually fashioned himself as a point guard.

"I started playing basketball when I was a little kid, like 3 or 4 years old," Koufos recalled at a recent Jazz practice session. "I remember just practicing in the driveway and dribbling the ball around in the driveway. I would come home and take shot after shot every day after elementary school and middle school, and my love for the game just grew."

And, as it turns out, so did he.

"When I was younger, I played the point guard position," Koufos pointed out. "And then, when I grew and got up to a good height, I just ran with it.

"I love the game. Nobody had to push me toward it. I've just worked hard for it.

"I grew a couple of inches every year, and then in middle school I sprouted up. By probably the eighth grade, I knew I wasn't going to be a point guard any more," he said. "When I was a freshman in high school, I was 6-foot-9, and by my sophomore and junior year, I was 7-foot."

That's where he stands today, a 7-foot, 265-pound player/project loaded with plenty of potential. After all, he's only 19 years old and played just one year of basketball at the collegiate level for the Ohio State Buckeyes before declaring for the 2008 NBA Draft. The Jazz subsequently selected him with their first-round pick, No. 23 overall, in July, and he's been learning on the job ever since.

Though he's still a work in progress, Koufos has certainly shown signs of being, if not a star in the making, at least a very serviceable NBA big man someday down the road. During this year's preseason, he saw action in five of Utah's seven games, averaging 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while seeing 9.4 minutes of playing time per contest.

Koufos shot just fine from the field — 10-of-18 (.556) and even made his only 3-point attempt — but shot a Shaq-esque 0-for-6 from the foul line. He also had three blocks and a couple of assists, but committed six turnovers.

Of course, as you'd expect, those numbers pale in comparison to the 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game he averaged last season as a freshman at Ohio State, where he had the unenviable challenge of replacing Greg Oden — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft — as the Buckeyes' starting center.