PC’s Herbert Hill, left, dunking over St. John’s Eugene Lawrence last February, was one of the top Big East centers.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

Herbert Hill is like an expectant mother these days, counting the hours to a life-changing event. So is Demetris Nichols.

Hill and Nichols are convinced that they’ll hear their names called during tonight’s NBA Draft in New York. They’re both targeted for the second round, but by which team? No one knows.

“It’s pretty nerve-wracking,” said Hill, the Providence College star who was in town yesterday and is set to welcome PC friends and family from his home in North Carolina at a party tonight. “It’s the next step in my life, but I don’t know where I’ll be. I just want it to be over.”

Nichols, a Boston native who starred for four years at St. Andrew’s School, will be the first Rhode Island high school player drafted since West Warwick’s Tom Garrick in 1988. He averaged 18.9 points and sank 100 3-point shots in his senior year at Syracuse.

“I’ve talked to five NBA teams in the last few weeks about Demetris and they’re excited about drafting him,” said Mike Hart, the coach at St. Andrew’s. “It’s an exciting time for ‘D’ and for us at St. Andrew’s.”

Two popular Web sites — nbadraft.net and hoopshype.com — have Nichols going 37th to Portland and 45th to the Clippers. Hill is projected to be picked 49th by Chicago and 56th by Milwaukee. Both players were in Dallas on Monday working out for a Mavericks team that owns three second-round picks (34, 50, 60).

The road Hill and Nichols traveled to the brink of being NBA draftees is a startling one. While Nichols was a top-100 recruit out of high school, he was far from a surefire NBA prospect. Hill was a recruiting after-thought coming out of Kinston, N.C., who came to PC’s attention only after Tim Welsh’s father, Jerry (a scout for the Milwaukee Bucks), saw a skinny but athletic 6-foot-8 prospect in a tournament near his home in Raleigh, N.C.

Hill red-shirted as a freshman and then barely left the Friars’ bench until his third season under Welsh. His senior year, however, was a revelation. Fully grown at 6-10 and 240 pounds, Hill matured into one of the best big men in the Big East. He led the league in scoring (19.9) and grabbed 9.8 rebounds a game. Those numbers opened the eyes of pro scouts, who regularly lined the court at virtually every Providence game last season.

Hill says he’s worked out for 13 different NBA teams, and they like his quickness and ability to score in the post. His defensive skills, which were masked by PC’s zone defensive sets, is the question scouts ask the most about Hill.

“It really doesn’t matter who picks me,” said Hill. “It just needs to be the right situation. You want to be able to get some minutes and develop. The key is getting a second contract. That’s when you make the (big) money.”

Nichols, a 6-7 shooter, overcame a severe stuttering problem with the help of specialists at St. Andrew’s and Syracuse. His game came a long way, too.

“When I first saw him as a freshman, I honestly thought he had a chance (to be a pro) if he developed into a 3-point shooter,” said Hart. “When I saw his work ethic, I knew he’d make money playing basketball. I remember Demetris and his roommate, Abdi Lidonde (now at Old Dominion), in the gym at 6 in the morning all the time. His work ethic was always phenomenal. Now his dream is going to come true.”

kmcnamar@projo.com