LAS VEGAS – He doesn't choke on his food. Not exactly, anyway.

But Jason Thompson does swallow hard before answering, the kind of gulp that has nothing to do with the size of his bite and everything to do with a calculated pause in thought. The Kings' draft pick out of little-known Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J., has just been asked his least favorite question – the one about making the leap from small school to big-time NBA player – and he's ready with a spirited and long-winded answer.

"One of the only reasons I might have been projected (in the June draft) where I was projected was because of the school I went to," Thompson said last month in Las Vegas, where he was participating in summer league games.

"It had nothing to do with talent. If I would've gone to North Carolina, or an (Atlantic-10 Conference) school, or to Temple, or a place where the conference was higher up, and averaged what I averaged (statistically) or something close to it … "

Another pause.

"I mean, you've got a guy like (Atlanta's) Marvin Williams, who comes out of North Carolina and wins the championship, coming off the bench and maybe averaging eight points," Thompson continued, the exasperation building. "And he's a No. 2 pick (in 2005). I mean that's what's crazy to me."

But this? The Kings mining the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for their power forward of the future and bringing him to Sacramento with the No. 12 pick?

Not even close to crazy. Not if you ask Thompson. His path to this point, on the other hand, was more than a bit unconventional.

When then-Rider assistant Tommy Dempsey went to see Thompson for the first time, it was hardly a strain on his recruiting budget. The drive from Lawrenceville to Lenape High School in Medford, N.J., is approximately 45 minutes, certainly worth the time to continue his search for a big man of the program's future.

Thompson's growth – of the physical and basketball kind – had drawn Dempsey's attention. The junior was a 6-foot-6 center who less than four years before had stood just 5-8. Since his sophomore season, Thompson had made the rare transition from junior varsity shooting guard to the frontcourt as a junior.

Yet for Dempsey there was no love-at-first-sight moment in that debut viewing. He appreciated the positive effects of Thompson's growth – most noticeably the big man's guard-like ability to handle the ball and run the floor – as well as his energy. But there were negatives to the rapid development, too.

"He was still a little awkward," said Dempsey, who became Rider's head coach in Thompson's sophomore collegiate season. "His feet were huge, and he was so skinny it looked like his feet were barely keeping him upright. But at the same time, he was all over the court, just playing hard and competing and talking (to his teammates)."

While Thompson may not have even been the best player on his team, his nonstop motor would be the redeeming quality that brought Dempsey back for more.

"(Jason) probably wouldn't admit this, but he was arguably the third-best player on his high school team," Dempsey said.

"But he was pretty relentless on the court. He'd go after every ball, play every possession. … He was a kid that when you saw him play, you couldn't wait to go see him again because he had just an infectious demeanor."

Thompson – who said he had interest from other mid-major schools – verbally committed to the Broncs before his senior season, then led Lenape to a state championship in his final prep campaign. And still, the interest from recruiters was far from big time. He received only mild interest from more renowned programs like UCLA and Villanova, programs his father knew wouldn't offer the experience or commitment of Rider.

The choice to stay close to home was influenced by Chuck Thompson, Jason's father, who preached the value of being a big fish in a small pond.

"I always used to tell my kids that. … 'If you stay close to home, you'll always be in the (news)papers,' " said Chuck, whose youngest son, Ryan, was Rider's second-leading scorer behind Jason last season and will be a junior.

Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.