By the time Aaron Gray had landed at Pittsburgh International Airport Tuesday night, he was ready for a vacation. Earlier that day, he completed a whirlwind tour of NBA cities with a workout in Salt Lake City for the Utah Jazz, by Gray's rough estimate the 16th NBA team for which he had a personal workout.

Finally, he had a chance to exhale. Three months of hard work was behind him, and the only thing to do was relax and wait to hear his name called this evening during the NBA draft.

NBA Draft Today What: 2007 NBA draft. When: 7 p.m. Where: Madison Square Garden, New York. TV: ESPN.

"I'm just glad the process is over," said Gray, the 7-foot All-American who started for two seasons at Pitt. "I was glad to work out for all these teams, but the travel and everything, it kind of wears on you."

Gray barely had a day to catch his breath in recent weeks. He showed up at the NBA predraft camp in Orlando earlier this month in the best shape of his life and impressed NBA personnel people with his fitness level. After that, if he was not working out for a team he was en route to an NBA city so coaches and general managers could evaluate him one last time.

"I've been all over the country -- north, south, east and west," Gray said. "I'm excited. I did very well. I'm really happy with all the work I put into it. It was a great experience for me. I've done everything I could possibly do. Now I just have to wait and see where I go."

Gray had to get in shape because a late-season ankle sprain in a mid-February home game against Washington prevented him from doing much of anything other than play in games the final month of the season. As a result, his weight increased and his conditioning declined.

In April, Gray spent a month in Las Vegas working out with celebrated trainer Joe Abunassar. Gray dropped 15 pounds and weighed in at the predraft camp at 271 pounds. He said he trimmed his body fat from 16 percent to 10.5 percent.

"He looked really good," said NBA draft expert Chris Ekstrand, who was at the predraft camp. "He was eye-balled close up. We had him there for the whole week. He showed the ability to change ends. He was effective. He scored down low, got rebounds, did what he was supposed to do.

"He's done the right preparation. These teams that have been working him out are getting him in the best possible shape. He helped himself in Orlando. It's human nature to remember the last thing you saw. I'm sure all of the coaches and GMs will go back and evaluate tape, but you're going to remember the last thing you saw."

Gray said he finally felt 100 percent at the predraft camp for the first time since the Washington game.

"That was the first time I was healthy. I was limited in what I could do after the Washington game. The night I graduated I left for Las Vegas. I spent a month out there working out two, three times a day. It was a long month, but it was worth it."

Yesterday morning, Gray planned to drive home to Emmaus on the eastern side of the state to spend time with his family before the draft. He will not play host to a draft party. Only his mother, Sandy, and father, Mike, and his two best friends will be allowed in the house.

For Gray, this is a time to reflect and celebrate how far he has come. ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas described Gray as a "non-prospect" coming out of Emmaus High in 2003. Four years later, he is on the verge of being drafted by an NBA team.

"It's ridiculous to think about," Gray said. "If you saw me as a freshman in high school, people wouldn't even believe it was me. The NBA was just a dream.

"Things have worked out really well for me. I was surrounded by great people at Pitt. The coaches gave me an opportunity. I wouldn't change a thing that's happened to me over the last four years."