EDMOND, OK -- All Leroy Dawson wants is a chance, and the New Orleans Hornets gave one to the former small-college guard on Wednesday.

Associated Press

LeRoy Dawson, who played for Southern Nazarene of the NAIA, performs a drill during a workout for the New Orleans Hornets in Edmond, Okla., Wednesday, June 20, 2007. The Hornets conducted their third basketball workout session as the NBA team prepares for the league's June 28 draft.

Dawson, who played for Southern Nazarene of the NAIA last season, joined three forwards -- Reyshawn Terry of North Carolina, Stephane Lasme of Massachusetts and Rashad Jones-Jennings of Arkansas-Little Rock -- as the Hornets conducted their third workout session in preparation for the NBA's June 28 draft.

"It's a big-time jump," Hornets coach Byron Scott said of the competitive leap Dawson is attempting. "But watching (Dawson) over the last year, I think Leroy definitely has a chance. I really do.

"Talent is talent. You've just got to find it. He's in a situation right now where he has nothing to lose. You just go out there and play as hard as you can and show everybody that you're ready to play."

That the Hornets agreed to look at Dawson wasn't necessarily a surprise, as he was one of the best players last season in the Sooner Athletic Conference, widely regarded as one of the NAIA's best leagues. But there does seem to be an element of good fortune in Dawson's route to the workout.

When Hurricane Katrina displaced the Hornets from New Orleans before the 2005-06 season, the team landed in Oklahoma City and began using Southern Nazarene's Sawyer Center as its workout facility. That brought Hornets officials into contact with SNU coach Michael Broughton and his Crimson Storm players.

Before the 2006-07 season, Dawson transferred to SNU from NCAA Division II Emporia State (Kan.) and developed a relationship with Hornets guard Bobby Jackson, one of the team's offseason free-agent acquisitions. Dawson also has played Amateur Athletic Union basketball with Scott's son in Los Angeles.

Those connections proved fortuitous for Dawson, who didn't seem at all intimidated by working out with major-college players.

"It didn't matter who was in here today," he said. "It's all basketball. They put on their shorts the same way I put on mine."

At Southern Nazarene, Dawson received second-team all-conference honors and made the NAIA's All-America honorable mention list after averaging 14.8 points and 4.2 assists per game and helping the Crimson Storm finish 28-7.

The odds against the 6-foot-2 Dawson making the jump from small-college basketball to the NBA seem daunting, considering how few players in recent years have successfully made such a transition. According to the NBA's Web site, only four players from the NAIA or NCAA Divisions II and III now play in the league.

But there are some success stories. Dennis Rodman, a member of five NBA championship-winning teams and the winner of seven league rebounding titles, played for Southeastern Oklahoma State, then an NAIA member, from 1983 through 1986.

One of Rodman's teammates with the Chicago Bulls was Scottie Pippen, who played collegiately at Central Arkansas, then in the NAIA, during the mid-1980s. Four-time NBA defensive player of the year Ben Wallace, who helped the Detroit Pistons win the 2004 league title and now plays for Chicago, played at Division II Virginia Union.

During Wednesday's workout, Dawson gave up six inches apiece to Terry, Lasme and Jones-Jennings, but impressed Scott and the other players with his competitiveness.

"He can shoot the ball," Terry said. "He can create plays. He's a hard worker. I enjoyed working out with him."

Added Scott: "Leroy did really well. You can tell that he prepared himself for it. He has been working out. I saw that during our season. I saw it after the season. It just seems like he has a different focus right now. ... He did a really good job in all the drills. He did a good job in the one-on-one stuff. He did a good job in the two-on-two stuff."

So far, the Hornets are the only team to invite Dawson to work out, although he said that he is trying to use other connections from his time at Emporia State to arrange a workout with the Nuggets.

Assuming he is not drafted, Dawson's best chance to make an NBA roster could be by receiving exposure on a summer-league team. Scott said the Hornets haven't ruled out inviting Dawson to play on their summer-league entry.

"I've got to stay persistent and do what I've been doing all my life," Dawson said. "I can make the transition. It probably won't be right now. I might have to go overseas. ... I know where I stand at. I've just got to get the right breaks and keep levelheaded and I should be all right."

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)