After starring at the Naval Academy, [David Robinson] had disappeared into the Navy, where the brand of competitive basketball was a little slow. He was a mild disappointment in the World Games in Madrid in 1986, a bigger disappointment on the Pan-Am team that lost to Brazil last year at Indianapolis and clearly out of shape in an outing with the Armed Services team last month.

In the first day's drills, only Danny Manning could challenge Robinson as the best player on the floor. Robinson shot well, rebounded well, ran the floor, dunked repeatedly and reduced North Carolina's J.R. Reid to a puddle. [John Thompson] says he is pleased with his ensign, and presumably would now have many qualms about cutting him.

One useful feature of the trials is that players are measured and weighed, rather than listed at their media-guide sizes, which are usually inflated. Thus, David Robinson, heretofore listed at 7-1, 235, is down to 7-0, 226. Danny Manning, once listed at 6-11, is now 6-9. Georgetown recruit [Alonzo Mourning], once 6-11 or 6-10 at Indian River High in Chesapeake, Va., is down to 6-9, 230. . . . Kevin Magee, the former UC Irvine player now competing in Israel and invited here, went home with flu. . . . And the Charles Barkley Look-Alike Award goes to Orlando Graham, a 6-6, 253-pounder from Auburn-Montgomery. Golden State Warriors personnel director Jack McMahon told Philadelphia 76ers Coach Jimmy Lynam to sign Graham and pair them up. . . . Today's scrimmages will be open to all accredited media, unlike Thursday and Friday, during which only eight members of a media pool were allowed to observe the scrimmages.