"He's looking tougher and more aggressive than I've ever seen him," said B.J. Johnson, a scout for the Houston Rockets . "It's like he's on a mission."

Atchley, a 6-foot-10-inch, 226-pound forward, has worked out twice for the Rockets. He said that representatives from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies attended one of the workouts.

Johnson said Atchley impressed while matched up against Jeff Adrien, a 6-7, 243-pound forward from Connecticut.

"Connor shot the ball well," Johnson said. "He blocked shots, he grabbed rebounds over Adrien, who is a tough kid."

Atchley has never been accused of being a tough guy, but he caught the attention of NBA scouts as a Longhorn junior, when he hit 41.3 percent of his three-point shots and led the Big 12 with 2.1 blocks a game.

Suddenly, Atchley was viewed as a European style big man who could stretch defenses with three-point shooting.

Then he suffered an ankle injury last December and a split tongue in early January that required more than 20 stitches to repair. Unable to eat solid food for a week, Atchley lost more than 10 pounds.

Atchley said the ankle injury had little impact on his performance. Though he missed only one game with the split tongue, he said he never fully regained his bearings.

"That really messed everything up," he said.

Atchley also suffered with the loss of former Longhorn point guard D.J. Augustin to the NBA . Augustin created three-point shots for him with pick-and-pop plays when Atchley was a junior.

This past season, Atchley's scoring average dipped to 4.6 points a game, five fewer than during his junior season. His three-point accuracy plunged to 27.8 percent.

"Losing D.J. hurt," Atchley said. "It helps to have a playmaker who also is a threat to score."

Lucas agreed with that assessment, adding that Atchley also scored less as a senior because, without Augustin, the Longhorns struggled to produce fast-break points.

Atchley, hoping to restore his reputation in time for the June 25 draft, began working with Lucas in April.

He plays twice a day against the likes of Othella Harrington, Chris Wilcox and DeAndre Jordan.

He lifts weights, as well. He has tried to improve his rebounding, never a strength.

"He needs to get stronger," Lucas said, "but he's picked up some (rebounding) tips from playing with the guys down here."

Lucas envisions Atchley some day in a perimeter big man role similar to Matt Bonner's with the Spurs . Scouts for Toronto, Milwaukee, Washington, Atlanta and Indiana have watched Atchley play at Lucas' gym.

"Connor can put the ball on the floor," Lucas said. "Not like Dirk Nowitzki, but he can do it."

Atchley's name appeared in NBA mock drafts a year ago. It is not there now.

But he is back in play.

"I feel like my normal self," Atchley said. "I have energy. I don't feel winded. If I don't get drafted, I'll try to get a spot on somebody's summer league team. The next step would probably be to go overseas."

mrosner@statesman.com; 445-3958