How low will this guy go?

He stands 7-foot-4, maybe 7-5 — in that stratosphere few in Utah, except maybe Mark Eaton, can know for sure.

He is only 18 years old, with a world of the dreaded "u-word," upside, at his clown-sized feet.

Yet he didn't even start last season — hardly even played — for his top-tier team in the Italian League, for goodness sakes.

Still, he is NBA material. A potential lottery pick. Perhaps even a top-five selection.

"C'mon," is the comment Kevin O'Connor expects to hear when someone says all of the above about Russian center Pavel Podkolzine, a boy-giant from Siberia who on Wednesday worked out for the Jazz in anticipation of the June 26 NBA Draft.

Top five? Please. Then again . . .

O'Connor makes no predictions on how high Podkolzine will go.

But the Jazz's vice president of basketball operations sure sounds like he'd be shocked if the big fella were available when Utah's turn to pick comes in the draft's first round.

"In all honesty . . . I wouldn't expect to see him at 19th," O'Connor said.

The Jazz, though, had Podkolzine audition for them anyway Wednesday, when he was joined by Arizona point guard Jason Gardner, a first-round hopeful; Wyoming guard Donta Richardson, who is unlikely to get drafted but could get invited to an NBA training camp; and Blagota Sekulic, a 6-9 swingman from Serbia and Montenegro who played last season for Partizan of Yugoslavia's top-tier league.

Podkolzine's visit was planned well before his draft stock started to soar, yet he honored the commitment.

But it may have been the last private workout before the draft for Podkolzine, who prior to arriving in Salt Lake on Tuesday already had traveled to Memphis, Milwaukee, Buffalo, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Seattle to perform for the Grizzlies, the Bucks, the Toronto Raptors, the Knicks, the Heat, the Lakers and Clippers and the Sonics.

Too much time in undersized commercial airline seats and uncomfortable hotel beds combined with one intense workout after another apparently have caught up with Podkolzine, who is bothered by muscle inflammation in his lower back.

But that isn't expected to adversely affect the draft status of Podkolzine, who spent most of last season with Varese's Italian League junior club and played only 62 minutes over 10 games for its top-league team.