Feb. 1, 2003

Charleston, SC - Cliff Washburn's schedule for the past week has been taxing.

"We've been to a couple of luaus, a beach bash," Washburn said Friday morning from a room at the Royal Lahaina Resort in Maui, Hawaii. "A lot of the guys went surfing, and they took us on a shopping spree. On Sunday, they're going to fly us over to Oahu for the Pro Bowl, and then we fly home."

Of course, the chief reason Washburn - the former Citadel defensive end who has gone from college football rookie to NFL prospect in a matter of months - is in Hawaii is to play in today's Hula Bowl, yet another of the postseason plethora of college football all-star games.

It's the second such game for the 6-7, 270-pound Washburn, who played in the East-West Shrine Game last month in San Francisco.

Between games, he attended a speed camp in Cincinnati, and is working toward the all-important NFL combine Feb. 18 in Indianapolis. "It's been a lot of fun," he said, "except for the traveling."

The goal of Washburn's frenetic schedule, of course, is to hear his name called sometime April 26 or 27, when the NFL draft is held in New York.

That would be quite an accomplishment for a guy who played four years of basketball at The Citadel before turning to football last season. If he's drafted, Washburn would be just the third Citadel player to be picked since 1982, joining kicker Greg Davis (ninth round to Tampa Bay in 1987) and running back Travis Jervey (fifth round to Green Bay in '95).

Playing for the first time since sixth grade, Washburn tied The Citadel's single-season sack record with 12, and was selected second-team all-Southern Conference. He became the first player to be chosen SoCon player of the week in both basketball and football.

NFL draft guru Mel Kiper has mentioned Washburn as a "sleeper" pick who could go as high as the third or fourth round, while Citadel coach Ellis Johnson thinks he could be picked in the sixth or seventh round.

Or, Washburn might not get picked at all. "Nobody knows, that's one thing I've learned. You can't even listen to draft analysts and all that stuff. Nobody has a clue, believe me, except maybe for the top five picks. Other than that, nobody knows."

But for a guy who has played as little as Washburn has, every practice against other top players, every snap in an all-star game is valuable.

"Nothing is going to come in two weeks," he said. "It's going to take a while to see the improvement. But no question, all this playing has benefited me. These players and coaches, they're helping me out, teaching me a few things. I can see the difference even this week in practice. There are some things I feel like I'm picking up and doing better."

Washburn's coach on the South team is Miami's Larry Coker, and players include South Carolina running back Ryan Brewer, Iowa quarterback Brad Banks (a Heisman Trophy finalist) and Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury.

Washburn hopes to improve on his performance in the Shrine Game, when he did not register in official defensive statistics, but helped force an interception.

"That game went pretty well," he said. "I played hard and did a couple of good things. For me, any football is good football and any reps are good reps. It's all about getting more reps and understanding things that you can only understand through experience, things you can't understand watching or from somebody telling you."