There were plenty of things the Detroit Pistons liked about their first-round draft pick, Tayshaun Prince of Kentucky. He's 6-feet-9 with long arms. He can play a number of positions. He's a terrific outside shooter and can handle the ball well for a player his height.

And there was a simple aspect that seems to get overlooked so often at this time of year.

"He's a basketball player," Pistons coach Rick Carlisle said of the Wildcats senior. "He knows the game. He's just a player."

Tayshaun Prince brings plenty of college experience with him to the NBA. (Allsport)

It was potential becoming perception and perception driving the picks.

While Wednesday night's draft was certainly not an affair for gray beards only, this was at least a step back toward some semblance of sense.

When it came to the American-trained picks, there were a lot of players drafted Wednesday. Many of the "prospects" dropped.

"The way the game has changed with the new rules, you need guys who understand how to play," said Carlisle.

The league seemed to agree with its reigning coach of the year. With the influx of zone defenses and the flood of skilled foreign players, just being able to jump out of the gym might no longer be enough to be a first-round pick.

Maybe this is backlash from the fact that four high school players were picked in the lottery a year ago and none of them averaged 7 points a game last year.

Or that only a handful of rookies could truly be considered impact players. Or that so many unschooled prospects have made plenty of highlight reels but go kaput in the playoffs (if they even make it) year after year.

Whatever the reason there were three college juniors from high-profile programs following top pick Yao Ming in the top 4. Then there was the telling mid- and late first round.

That was where Fresno State's fifth-year senior Melvin Ely went 12th to the perpetually young Clippers. It is also when Indiana picked Oregon senior Freddie Jones at 14.

Maryland senior Juan Dixon, the most outstanding player at the Final Four, was selected 17th. Notre Dame's hard-working fifth-year forward Ryan Humphrey went 19. Stanford junior Casey Jacobsen was chosen 22nd, UK's Prince was 23rd and Illinois' Frank Williams was taken 25th.

Rounding out the first round was big Miami senior guard John Salmons, Fresno State's fifth-year defensive specialist Chris Jefferies and Gonzaga's fifth-year senior Dan Dickau.

The first pick of round two was tough as nails Cincinnati senior Steve Logan. He was followed by three more seniors and two juniors.

Compared to recent history, this was an old draft. Of the 22 American-trained players selected in the first round, only one was straight out of high school, one was a freshman, three were sophomores and one was out of junior college. Last year 15 first-round picks fit into one of those categories.

That meant 16 selections spent between three and five years in college. Nine of the first 29 selections (including Logan to start round two) were seniors. A year ago only four were.

For fans of competitors, it was also heartening to see some of these names picked if only because they played their way into the first round. Guys such as Humphrey, Dixon, Jones, Prince, and Salmons wound up with guaranteed first-round money based in part on strong performances at the Chicago pre-draft camp.

Many top prospects who ducked the early June combine because they felt they had nothing to gain by being there watched themselves slide. Maybe leaving the opportunity to show they could play to others wasn't such a good idea after all.

It was an understanding of the game that was one reason NBA teams soured on junior college prospect Qyntel Woods, who fell all the way to 21. He is an athlete, but is he a player? Can he score against a team playing real defense, not put up numbers in a junior college track meet?

But isn't that one of the league's problems of late, a reason playoff games can be played in the 60s? The NBA has been overrun by guys who can look great in the layup line but can't shoot and score and hardly seem to care about winning. And with half of each NBA bench full of "projects," the overall product has suffered.

This was at least a small step in the other direction.

It turned out to be some of the youngest players that fell the hardest. Michigan State sophomore Marcus Taylor slid all the way to 52. Cal freshman Jamal Sampson wound up at 47. "High school" players Lenny Cooke, a 20-year-old playground legend more than a prep star, and DeAngelo Collins didn't get a sniff. Woods wound up being the only JUCO star to have his name called.

Even in the mid-to-late second round, when total gambles are understandable, it was seniors from small-time schools such as Shaw, La Salle, Marshall and Central Connecticut that were picked.

All of those players have experience. All of those men are men.

After so many years of chasing athletes who can't shoot, dunkers who can't defend and jumpers who don't care about winning, the NBA made some kind of statement Wednesday.

You don't have to go to college for three or four years to be a smart player and foreign guys and young stars will always rightfully entice. But with the new rules, it sure doesn't hurt to be a "player." When decision time came Wednesday throughout the league, for the most part it was experience, maturity and know-how that trumped potential and athletic ability.

For fans of basketball -- NBA, NCAA or both -- that is nice to see.