A record number of college freshmen were selected in the 2017 NBA draft on Thursday night. UCLA contributed its fair share. Two of the record-high 16 freshmen in the first round were Bruins, includ…
A record number of college freshmen were selected in the 2017 NBA draft on Thursday night.
UCLA contributed its fair share.
Two of the record-high 16 freshmen in the first round were Bruins, including the highest draft pick from UCLA in 38 years.
After much anticipation, the Lakers did indeed make Southern California product Lonzo Ball the No. 2 overall pick. The last Bruin selected that high in the NBA draft was David Greenwood, who went No. 2 in 1979.
After setting UCLA’s school record with 274 assists in his lone collegiate season, Ball’s professional basketball home is within a short drive from his hometown of Chino Hills.
TJ Leaf, the leading scorer on the highest-scoring team in college basketball, was the second UCLA freshman selected in the first round when the Indiana Pacers made him the 18th overall selection.
Just before going on stage to shake NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s hand, the 6-foot-10 power forward shared a hug with his father, Brad Leaf, who was drafted by the Pacers 35 years earlier. A seventh-round pick in the 1982 draft, Brad Leaf elected to play in Isreal, where he enjoyed a 17-year career and his wife birthed a son named TJ just over 20 years ago.
The third member of UCLA’s 2016 recruiting class, center Ike Anigbogu, was a projected first-round draft pick, but slipped to the Pacers at the 47th overall pick amid reports of concern for his surgically repaired knee.
Anigbogu suffered a tear in his meniscus three weeks before his lone season at UCLA, requiring a surgery so minor that he was shelved for only a month before returning to game action.
His 6-foot-10,250-pound frame and a 7-6 wingspan combined with his exceptional athleticism drew near assurances to his camp that he would be a first-round draft pick, but Anigbogu now has an even steeper climb to prove himself a worthy NBA talent.
Anigbogu, who was in attendance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., emereged from his seat with a subdued reaction before hugging his family members and heading to the stage.
The freshmen center did not initially hire an agent after declaring for the draft, temporarily preserving his college eligibility, but a return to UCLA may have meant another year as a backup to UCLA’s starting center Thomas Welsh. Anigbogu averaged 4.7 points, and 4.0 rebounds in 13 minutes per game last season.
In the NBA, he will have his college classmate to lean on in Leaf, whose statistics in his lone college season only helped his cause.
Leaf averaged a team-high 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds on 61.7 percent shooting. He displayed skills coveted in the modern NBA for a stretch-four, including 46.6 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Of course, playing with one of the best passing point guards to play college basketball in recent memory didn’ t hurt Leaf’s draft stock.
Ball, who led the nation in assists last season, was largely credited with UCLA’s quick turnaround. The Bruins went 15-17 two years ago before posting a 31-5 mark last season.
Anticipation that Ball would be selected by the Lakers began long before they landed the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft lottery on May 16.
After the Philadelphia 76ers selected Washington’s Markelle Fultz with the No. 1 pick, the Lakers landed their point guard of the future.
“It’s a dream come true, ” Ball told ESPN. “It’s crazy. I couldn’ t ask for anything more and to be able to learn from (Magic Johnson) every day is truly a blessing.”
Ball changed out of his black dress shoes into purple and gold Big Baller Brand shoes a few minutes before he was selected.
His famously outspoken father, LaVar Ball, emphatically reiterated that he predicted his oldest son would be drafted by the Lakers.
“I’ m trying to tell you, I knew this was happening before it was happening, ” LaVar Ball told ESPN while wearing a purple and gold BBB hat. “It’s a wonderful feeling, but I already knew it was coming to him.”
The Lakers seemed to officially clear the way for Ball’s arrival on Tuesday when they traded point guard D’ Angelo Russell, the No. 2 selection in the 2015 draft, to the Brooklyn Nets.
