NEW YORK-- It has been a whirlwind trip for UConn's 6-0 All-American point guard Shabazz Napier since he was selected Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four after leading his American Athletic Conference team to a national championship. 
 
He has thrown out the first pitch in a Red Sox game, visited the White House and played his way into the Green Room for the NBA draft last night.
 
But in his mind, nothing compares to that day on May 11 when he fulfilled a promise to his mother Carmen Valasquez and received his degree from the University of Connecticut with her seated in the audience on Mother's Day.
 
"My walking across the stage to graduate was more important than winning a national championship,'' Napier said. “That kind of put the icing on the cake.'”
 
 Napier is the first member of his family to graduate from college.
 
When he was a junior and the Huskies found out they were locked out of postseason play by the NCAA, he thought about declaring for the NBA draft. Napier was a first team All-Big East selection and might have been a late round pick.
 
 "I think I could have sneaked into the end of the first round,'' he admitted. “But, at the end of the day, I was always told basketball can take you many places, but you're probably only going to play competitive basketball until you're 40. My mother always told me education is going to stay with you forever. She told me it's always good to complete something,'' he said. "She reminded me of that before I made my decision.''
 
 Mother, in this case, definitely knew best.
 
Carmen Valasquez, who is originally from Puerto Rico, is a single mother who endured financial struggles to raise her three children in the rough Mission Hill section of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and keep them off the streets and out of harm's way. Napier did not have a father in his life, so every Father's Day he buys his mother a gift. "I didn't really have a father in my life and she's been like a father and mother to me,'' he said.
 
“Throughout my whole life, I lived in bad areas. My mother has been trying to do the right thing no matter what was going on. As a single parent raising three kids, it's always tough, no matter who you are. She made sacrifices to make sure our bills were paid and the electricity was on. There were some times we had no lights and times where we had no food on the table, she made do with whatever we had.
 
"It just showed me that you should never quit.'' 
 
Napier must have been channelling his inner Kevin Durant, who made such a touching speech about his mother when he accepted the NBA's MVP award this spring. Napier couldn't think of anyone he'd rather spend the past few days with before the NBA draft than his mom and his family.
 
Napier's persistence paid off when he was selected with the 24th pick in the first round. Napier walked to the stage at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, shook hands with commissioner Adam Silver, than put on the cap of the Charlotte Hornets, where it looked like he would join his college teammate Kemba Walker – another All-American who led UConn to a national championship. Napier gave his mother, who had attended all of his home games and cheered him on, wearing a UConn jersey with his name on it, an emotional hug.  
 
The euphoria of playing for the Hornets lasted less than 10 minutes.
 
By the end of the first round, Napier found out he will be traded to the Miami Heat, where he hopefully will get a chance to play with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for a team that won two NBA titles in the last four years.
 
James, as it turned out, was a huge fan of Napier and tweeted out during the NCAA tournament that he felt Napier "was the best point guard in college basketball,'' while calling for the Heat to upgrade every position on the team so the Heat could make fifth straight run at The Finals and a third run at the title in five years.
 
Napier wasn't about to argue with the King, and if he presence helps the Heat court James, all the better.  
 
"I would hope so," Napier said. "He's one of the best players in the world. So if my going there helps him come back, it just betters our chances of being a complete team."
 
James took to Twitter on Thursday night after Napier was drafted:
 
"I know LeBron tweeted something out in the NCAA tournament about him,'' Heat president Pat Riley said. "Why not? If LeBron and I have the same taste in talent, so be it. But he didn't call me on the phone or he didn't make it a point with me.''
 
Napier, who can play both guard spots and is an effective shooter, fills the mold of players Riley prefers because he played four years in college. He averaged 18 points and shot 41 percent from 3-point range during his senior season.
 
"He's a very competitive person, and I think competitive without a huge ego, too," Riley said. "He's a winner. He's talented and he's skilled. You just have to watch him play the game and you can see the competitive level we all like."
 
 Napier said he's eager to prove himself in the NBA.
 
"No, the chip never leaves my shoulder. It will never leave my shoulder," Napier said. "That's what makes me who I am. And I was saying that not to belittle any other point guards. There's a reason why they're here. But I was just saying that because that's who I am. I wouldn't be Shabazz Napier if I wouldn't have said that. I believe it, and I'm going to prove it.
 
"What I always learned was that whatever you put in is what you're going to get out. If I don't put in the work, it's not going to show. So there's always a chip on my shoulder to prove to myself that I'm the best, and to do that, I've got to work hard."
 
Napier worked out for the Heat and nine other teams in the postseason, hoping someone would like him enough select him despite his 6-0 size. "I told my agent, Rob Pelinka, I just wanted to play and I was willing to work out for anyone.'' he said "I felt I was the best guard on the floor in each of those workouts.
 
"Now, I don't go up against any of the highest profile guards. But if they're worried about little old me, who kow how they'll react when they start facing guys like Chris Paul, Steph Curry and Tony Parker.''
 
Napier did admit it was special when he was asked to work out for his hometown Celtics. "I grew up rooting for the Celtics and all the Boston teams,'' he said. "There are no bandwagon jumpers in Boston. That's why the fan bases are so strong. They loved their Celtics, Reed Sox, Bruins and Pats .I have to admit when i walked into the Celtcs' arena, it took me about five minutes to focus. I kept looking at all the banners hanging from rafters.''
 
Most draft reports had Napier going anywhere between 12th and 20th. As it turns out he was the last of the 19 players invited to the green room selected. If anyone deserved to have a chip on his shoulder, it was Napier. At the NCAA championship, he got up at the podium and talked about the NCAA banning the Huskies for academic shortcoming that occurred before they were ever enrolled in school, then pushed for a stipend from the NCAA so athletes like himself wouldn't have to go to bed hungry at night because they didn't get enough to eat.
 
"So many of the NCAA rules are stupid,'' he said. "One thing I learned was it was OK to give a scholarship athlete a bagel, but it wasn't legal to give a kid a bagel with cream cheese. I knew they were going to change the rule about food for athletes, so I can't say I was the reason.''
 
Napier became the face of student-athlete reform. But he put his anger away on draft night. He said he just felt blessed for the opportunity and thankful for the help he received from Huskies coach Kevin Ollie, the former UConn star who replaced Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun.
 
"I knew Coach Calhoun wouldn't put us in bad hands,'' Napier said. "One of the best things Coach Ollie said to me was to expect the unexpected. You never know where your next opportunity is going to come from.''
 
Right now, it looks to be in Miami.
 
"The draft is not the end of the journey,'' Napier said. "It's just the beginning. I know I have a lot of work to do to prove I can play in the league.''
 
Napier led UConn in almost every category this season, including rebounding. He made more big shots than anyone in March Madness. And he seems ready to take his game to the next level..Napier will get a chance to build on his impressive resume of two national championships when he represents Puerto Rico's national team in the upcoming World Championships before going to training camp where he will battle all of the big names he watched on TV.  
 
College graduates like Napier are the easy ones to root for.