He has pushed the memories of carefree days in Utah and the excitement surrounding last summer's NBA draft to the back recesses of his consciousness.

Today, Andrew Bogut prefers to concentrate on the business of basketball. Heading into his homecoming game Monday night against the Jazz, business is booming.

The 2004-05 All-American and No. 1 overall draft pick has made one of the biggest impacts on Milwaukee since bratwurst and beer. Less than a month into the regular season, Bogut has helped give the long-suffering Bucks the undeniable look of a playoff team.

"He's doing well," coach Terry Stotts said. "For the most part, he's improved from the very beginning. . . . He has the focus and determination to be a good player. He has contributed to all our wins."

Bucks general manager Larry Harris agreed: "I've said it before and I'll say it again. In five years, I think he'll be the best center in the Eastern Conference. And I hope he's an All-Star in three or four."

For now, Bogut is simply adjusting to life in the NBA.

"It hasn't been too bad," he said. "I'm getting there."

Bogut's teammates have helped make the transition from Big Man on Campus to NBA Grunt a little smoother. They seem to genuinely like the multitalented new guy, perhaps because they know how much he can help them win in the not-too-distant future.

"He's doing great," said Mo Williams. "He loves the game and he wants to learn. And he's very talented. He's more advanced than most guys his age."

"It would take me all day to say all the good things about him," said Ervin Johnson, a 13-year veteran. "He's the first No. 1 pick I've ever been around, and the thing I noticed right away is he's very humble."

Michael Redd is the Bucks' established All-Star, and he laughed when questioned whether Bogut was handling the often unenviable tasks that a first-year player must perform.

"He's a good rookie," Redd said. "He does what he's asked to do. He gets donuts. He sings, 'Happy Birthday.' He carries the bags. He does it all."

Said Johnson: "And he does it gracefully. Some No. 1 picks would probably fight it. But it doesn't seem like he has a problem with it. It's like I tell him, 'When you're my age, you'll have some rookies doing the same thing.' "

After spending two years at Utah, Bogut left school last summer when it became clear he was going to be one of the top two picks in the draft.

But where would he end up? Milwaukee or Atlanta, which picked No. 2?

"I didn't know," Bogut said. "Nobody told me what they were going to do."

Oddly, former Utah coach Rick Majerus told everyone who asked that North Carolina's Marvin Williams - not Bogut, his former recruit - should be the No. 1 pick.

At one point in the pre-draft process, Majerus even suggested that Bogut suffered from a hidden degenerative eye disease that could impact his long-term career.

Bogut was angry. His agent, David Bauman, was outraged.

"I don't know where that started," Bauman said at the time. "It's just preposterous. . . . Rick Majerus saying Andrew is going blind is like me saying that Rick Majerus is skinny."

Bogut has "no idea" what motivated his former coach to say such things.

"You'd have to ask him," he said. "But that's the way it goes."

Fortunately for Bogut, reports of the phantom eye condition did not impact his position in the draft. The Bucks had Bogut and Williams in for pre-draft workouts but came away knowing that Bogut was their man.

"Going into the draft, we felt we had to do our due diligence and bring in the top two prospects," Harris said. "But once Andrew came in and we had a chance to meet him, he was the overwhelming choice of our coaching staff."

Why?

"His competitiveness," Harris said. "You don't have to motivate him. He brings it every night. He's his own worst critic. And he has a high basketball I.Q. . . . It's easy to coach guys like that."

Just before the start of the season, Milwaukee traded swingman Desmond Mason and a future No. 1 pick to New Orleans for Jamaal Magloire.

Like Bogut, Magloire is a young center. Unlike Bogut, Magloire already has played in an All-Star Game.

In Milwaukee, some considered the acquisition of Magloire as a no-confidence vote against Bogut.

Not true, according to everyone involved.

"They said it wasn't because of me," Bogut said. "It was a chance to get an All-Star center. Any team is going to make that move. . . . The Heat would have done it, and they have Shaq."

Said Harris: "We had a chance to shore up our inside game and balance our roster. From day one, it had nothing to do with Andrew. We just had a chance to improve ourselves."

Bogut started the first six games of the Bucks' season, playing power forward in place of injured veteran Joe Smith and averaging 9.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Smith returned to the starting lineup for Wednesday night's 90-87 victory at Golden State, however, and Bogut came off the bench for the first time.

Still, he finished with nine points and 11 rebounds and threw down two monster dunks in the third quarter that helped the Bucks build an 18-point lead.

"Coming off the bench will be easy for me this year," Bogut said. "It almost makes me play harder. I play hard all the time, but I'm fresher this way. I can make more things happen."

Fine with the Bucks.

"He's a hard worker," Redd said. "The sky's the limit for the kid."

luhm@sltrib.com