DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Daequan Cook will share his NBA draft experience with about 150 of his closest friends.

The Dunbar High School graduate and Ohio State freshman is hosting a draft party Thursday at the Holiday Inn on Dryden Road. It's open to the public. Admission is $20.

"It will be a light atmosphere," said Dunbar assistant coach Albert Powell, who has helped Cook through the draft process. "There will be finger food, soft drinks and a big-screen TV."

Cook, who worked out Monday for the Miami Heat, has climbed in some mock drafts and fallen to the second round in others. Because of his youth and how his freshman year ended, pundits have taken their shots lately.

In ESPN The Magazine, Chad Ford shows Cook going No. 30 to Philadelphia, accompanied by text saying, "He's got springs, range ... and no clue on how to play the game" and also that Cook has a "weak work ethic and massive ego."

On ESPN Radio on Monday, ex-college coach Fran Fraschilla said he wouldn't draft Cook in the first round unless he had a "gun to his head."

Powell knows the draft is a crapshoot. "We'll be disappointed if he doesn't go in the first round," he said. "But I know he's one of the best 60 players in the draft and he'll be drafted.

"I'm not nervous at all. I would be nervous if I hadn't been there (at workouts) to witness reactions and had candid conversations with GMs."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.