Even if you’re a diehard college basketball fan, you may not have been familiar with many of the top players selected in this year’s NBA draft.
That’s because only one player from the college ranks was selected within the top five picks of the 2023 NBA draft, marking only the second time that has ever happened.
The San Antonio Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama from French professional team Metropolitans 92 with the No. 1 overall pick, while Scoot Henderson – who opted to bypass college to play for G League Ignite – was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the No. 3 overall pick. Twin brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson, who chose to play for Overtime Elite rather than play college basketball, were chosen with the fourth and fifth picks by the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons, respectively.
The only player from the college ranks chosen in the top five picks was Alabama forward Brandon Miller, the national freshman of the year in college basketball during the 2022-23 season. The second college player drafted was Arkansas guard Anthony Black, who also spent just one year at the collegiate level, by the Orlando Magic with the No. 6 overall pick.
By comparison, the first seven players selected in the 2022 NBA draft were all college players.
The only previous time only one college player was selected in the top five picks of the NBA draft was in 2001, when none of the first four picks – Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol and Eddy Curry – played college basketball. Brown, Chandler and Curry all went straight to the NBA from high school, which players were allowed to do at the time, while Gasol was drafted out of FC Barcelona in Spain.
