Shabazz Muhammad looks forward to getting grilled in interviews by NBA front-office officials during the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago this week. "Most people are speculating a lot about me and don’t really know me as a person," Shabazz told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears. "But I think the interviews will really show what I’m about."

The NCAA forced Shabazz Muhammad to sit out his first three games of his freshman year at UCLA over rules violations. He also had to pay $1,600 after receiving "impermissible benefits." Shabazz told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears the ordeal was a valuable learning experience. "It was stressful and something I had to get through," Muhammad said. “But I think it will really benefit me in the future. I went through a lot of stuff where people were saying things about me that wasn’t necessarily true. I think it’s going to benefit me in the long run because I learned how to overcome adversity."

Shabazz Muhammad on the NCAA's scrutiny of him: "I don’t know if they didn’t like me as a person or what it was. I just tried to hang in there and stay positive and everything worked out.”

In March, it was revealed that Shabazz Muhammad was 20 years old, not 19.

One Eastern Conference assistant general manager said Muhammad’s off-court drama won't affect his draft status. "He’s going to get a lot more questions about his game and how it translates to the NBA than what surrounded him in the media,” the front-office official told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears. "Teams will determine with their questions whether there was more commotion around him than issues with his character. We’ve had a lot of players come to the NBA with commotion around them and that can be answered by him with a few questions. There will be more questions about what he will be able to do [on the court] at the next level."

Shabazz Muhammad was UCLA's leading scorer, averaging 17.9 points on 44.3 percent shooting from the field and 5.2 rebounds.

Shabazz Muhammad told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears that playing at 230 pounds was too heavy on his 6-foot-6 frame. He says he is now more explosive and has more stamina after dropping to 220 pounds while working out twice a day in Santa Barbara, Calif., for the past month.

"I'm the guy who is going to be focused and ready to live up to the challenge," Shabazz Muhammad told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears. "I'm not just trying to be a player in the league. I'm trying to be a player who can be an All-Star in the league one day."

An Eastern Conference assistant GM said Shabazz Muhammad used his size and strength well at UCLA, but it could be tougher for him in the bigger and stronger NBA.

Shabazz Muhammad says he has been working diligently on his quickness, ball-handling and creating his own shot. Muhammad is slated to begin his workouts at the pre-draft camp on Thursday.

"My game will translate well [into the NBA]," Shabazz Muhammad told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears. "I'm a guy who likes to score the ball, obviously, who can penetrate defenses and likes up-tempo style of play. I think that will really benefit a team."

An Eastern Conference assistant GM's draft projection of Shabazz Muhammad: As high as third or as low as 13.

Through his interviews and team workouts, Shabazz Muhammad believes he will prove deserving to be drafted as high as No. 1.

"I will never count myself out," Shabazz Muhammad told Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears. "That's what I was raised wanting to do. Even back in high school I didn't have a shot of being the No. 1 player in the country and I overcame that. I just want to overcome every obstacle and see where it goes."