NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Iona College men's basketball senior guard A.J. English took the next step towards his future professional career beginning yesterday at the 2016 NBA Draft Combine, an invitation-only multi-day showcase in Chicago, IL. The Combine continues through Sunday (May 15).

English - who earned the invite following an MVP performance at the 2016 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament last month - looks to improve his NBA Draft status this week in Chicago. At the combine players take physical measurements, participate in interviews, undergo shooting drills, take medical tests, go through five-on-five drills and perform various athletic tests in front of NBA coaches, general managers, and scouts.

Among the athletic tests given are: standing vertical jump, maximum vertical jump, bench press, three-quarter court sprint, shuttle drill and modified event time. Physical measurements include: height with shoes, height without shoes, wingspan, weight, standing reach, body fat, hand length, and hand width. The shooting tests measured are: spot-up three-point field goals from various distances, shooting off the dribble and timed jump shots on the move.

ESPN offers coverage of on-court action days tomorrow (May 12) and Friday (May 13). ESPN2 has rotating coverage of 5-on-5 scrimmages and various athletic tests from 3:00 pm through 7:00 pm both days. Additional scrimmage action can be found on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. The event is hosted by Mark Jones and Caron Butler with contributions from college basketball analysts Jay Bilas, Fran Fraschilla, Andy Katz and Jay Williams.

Coverage continues on NBA-TV and NBA.com Saturday (May 14) and Sunday (May 15). Saturday's schedule is listed from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm while the final day is slated to be aired from 9:00 pm to midnight.

Sixty-three players were invited to the 2016 NBA Draft Combine determined by lists submitted from every NBA team. Though not currently on many of the mock draft boards available on-line, English's draft status can be improved with a solid performance this week.

English is the second Gael under head coach Tim Cluess to earn a spot in the NBA Draft Combine, following Scott Machado participation in 2012. Machado went undrafted but signed shortly after with the Houston Rockets. After shuttling between Houston and its NBA Development League affiliate Rio Grande Valley during the regular season in 2012-13, he was traded to the Santa Cruz Warriors and made postseason appearances with Golden State in the 2013 NBA Playoffs.