arrun Hilliard got a phone call from his agent and left his Bethlehem living room right before the Detroit Pistons selected him with the 38th pick in the second round of last Thursday's NBA Draft. The Liberty graduate knew his name was going to be broadcast across the country, but wanted to watch the reaction of his family through the window of his home.

Shortly before midnight, you can say that the Hilliard household made a lot of noise and Hilliard took it all in from a distance. It was a surreal night for one of Bethlehem's sons, and one that he will always remember.

"When the first round was going on, my anxiety was through the roof," Hilliard said. "I went for a run up to Fountain Hill just to calm my nerves. Then the second round got started and I got the call from my agent and he told me the Pistons were going to take me. It was an awesome feeling, but I still wanted to play a prank on my family, so I left the house and watched their reactions through the window. I wish I had a camera to capture how they reacted. When I came back in, all my cousins mobbed me. It was the greatest feeling ever."

The former Villanova standout knew that Detroit was a possibility, as the Pistons, Spurs and 76ers emerged as potential landing spots for the 6-foot-6 shooting guard.

Hilliard's high school coach, Chad Landis, talked about the importance of finding a good situation before the draft and Hilliard may have wound up in his best case scenario.

"I had a great workout with them and my interview was awesome," Hilliard said of the Pistons. "I felt like I really connected with the coaching staff when I was there and I really liked coach Stan Van Gundy."

Hilliard averaged 14.3 points a game as a senior at Villanova and shot 38.7% from the three-point line en route to being a first-team All-Big East selection.

"One of the biggest things about Darrun over the years is how his role changed with his team and he was able to really always add what his team needed," Pistons general manager Jeff Bower told the Detroit Free Press. "Whether it was scoring, or getting the ball to other people or getting a big offensive rebound. He's a versatile guy, but above all else he has an incredible respect for the game both in how he plays it and how he approaches it with his work ethic. Those were some of the things we really liked about him.''

Hilliard's journey to the NBA is a typical example of what talent, desire and work ethic can lead to and he hopes people can recognize the simplicity of hard work paying off.

"People have always doubted my abilities when I was getting recruited in high school and over the years," he said. "[Villanova] Coach [Jay] Wright always told me life is easy, there's just a lot of distractions that make it hard. I just try to keep things simple and work hard. I hope that kids from Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton or anywhere, can look at this and know they can do anything they want. It doesn't matter where you're from."

Hilliard finished up brushing his teeth in his family home shortly before talking to the Press for this interview, as the simplicity of waking up at home will shift into a whirlwind the rest of the summer.

He flew to Detroit on Saturday to address the media before heading to Orlando on Monday to report for the NBA's Orlando Pro Summer League.

He'll compete against a mixture of rookies, younger bench players and unsigned free agents, all with the intent of earning an NBA contract.

With the NBA draft behind him, Hilliard knows there's plenty of work to be done moving forward.

First round picks automatically earn NBA contracts, while second rounders aren't guaranteed to be on NBA rosters.

"It's great that I got drafted," Hilliard said, "but the reality is I still got to make the team. I'm just happy I graduated from college and got a job."