There was the dad, serving a 15-year prison sentence, convicted in 2001 on charges of grand theft, petty theft, attempted robbery with a gun and possession of cocaine.

There was the 6-minute burst in the 2007 NCAA championship game that included a jump shot over Ohio State's Greg Oden and a couple of rebounds.

There was the sudden realization last season that Joakim Noah, Al Horford and most of the championship team were gone and that, somehow, Marreese Speights was being viewed as a star before he ever really played.

There were Internet NBA draft boards that projected him as a top-10 pick. And there was his name among candidates for the Naismith Award as national Player of the Year.

That's a lot of life experience for a 20-year-old, even one who has grown to 6-10, 245 pounds with a wingspan of a man 6 to 8 inches taller. And that's all before the 76ers chose him Thursday night as the No. 16 overall pick in the NBA draft.

"I had to come in and live up to all the expectations, and I hadn't really done anything," Speights said yesterday after arriving from St. Petersburg, Fla., and meeting Philadelphia reporters for the first time. "I got used to it in the middle of the season. I got humbled real fast. It was too much. I hit one jumper in the championship game and got all that kind of stuff. I was the only 'big' on the team, and people were coming at me."

It is not an exaggeration to say that, all along, the Sixers - from president/general manager Eddie Stefanski to assistant GM Tony DiLeo to director of player personnel Courtney Witte to various scouts - were watching. They wrote down Speights' name sometime in '06-07 and never erased it or drew a line through it. As they pared down their primary list of big men likely to be available at No. 16, they never lost their focus. They liked some others - afterward, they tried to cut a deal to acquire Texas A & M's DeAndre Jordan in the second round - but they knew whom they wanted.

Speights averaged 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.36 blocks for a 21-11 team that scrapped its way to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament this past season. Melding that with whatever he showed during his predraft visit with the Sixers was enough to cement his status. When Stefanski went around the table for opinions and rankings one last time, all but one member of his staff had Speights as the No. 1 guy among the remaining candidates.

Speights has emerged as a product of his environment, embracing the positive aspects while refusing to be beaten down by the negatives. He remains in regular contact with his father, Wilbur, via telephone calls and letters. He reveres his mother, Regina, and has her name tattooed on his right arm. He accepted the necessary tough love from Florida coach Billy Donovan. And he landed in a good spot.

"Most players that are in denial about what they have to do to get better at never really get better," Donovan said. "I think Marreese totally understands the areas he needs to get better in."

The scouting report says Speights will run offensively and in defensive transition, is adept with either hand around the basket, has good form and a soft touch on his jumper up to 18 feet, and has worked diligently on his conditioning and his skills.

His personality fits the players in the Sixers' locker room. Asked about his work ethic, he smiled and said: "When I was young, I didn't really have to work. I was the biggest thing in high school. When I got to Florida, I really had to work."

Asked about his ability as a pitcher, he said, "When I was 14, I threw like 85 [mph]." And then he paused, and said, "That's good, right?"

The Sixers are approaching Speights' growth and development the way they dealt with Thaddeus Young, the No. 12 overall pick last year. They're not looking for immediate impact, or even major minutes in the coming season. They got both from Young, who blossomed about midway through, but they view that as a bonus.

Stefanski quietly made a pact with the newest Sixer.

"I just want him to come here and work this summer and next year," Stefanski said. "I want him after every game to come up and shake my hand and he can look me in the eye and say, 'I gave you 110 percent.' I'm not going to complain what the box score looks like, but if this kid works hard every day, puts that effort in, he has a big upside. He said he'll come and do exactly that. He's a man of his word, and I think we have a very good basketball player in the city of Philadelphia."

Speights did not back away. "It was good," he said. "I agreed to it."

Among the challenges he has faced along the way, this one should be easy. *