Hoosier Hospitality At NBA Draft
BROOKLYN – There was a sense of Hoosier Hospitality at the NBA Draft Thursday night.
The Orlando Magic surprised many by taking Indiana Hoosier sparkplug Victor Oladipo with the second pick in the draft while Oladipo’s tall timber teammate, Cody Zeller, was taken fourth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats.
Meanwhile, Duke forward Mason Plumlee waited until 10:00 p.m. to be selected, which began as a chorus of boos for NBA Commissioner David Stern to cheers after the Brooklyn Nets selected Plumlee at No. 22 overall.
Plumlee will join his older brother, Miles, who was drafted in the first round by the Indiana Pacers in 2012.
Mason Plumlee, like Miles, starred at Duke. The 6-10 forward averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds per game his senior season as the Blue Devils fashioned a 30-6 mark. He earned first-team All-ACC honors and was a second-team All-American. Plumlee helped Duke win a national title in 2010, and finished his career with 1,384 points and 1,085 rebounds.
Plumlee was born in Fort Wayne and grew up in Warsaw, attending WCHS his freshman year. Plumlee then spent his final three high school years at Christ School in Arden, North Carolina. He helped lead Christ School to a 99-8 record his final three years, including three state championships.
Oladipo and Zeller led the Hoosiers to a No. 1 ranking and a revival for a program that was at rock bottom, but returned to glory with a regular season Big 10 championship last season and a Sweet 16 appearance. Oladipo averaged 13.6 points per game and added a host of nightly stats, including 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and shot 60 percent from the floor, including 44 percent from three-point range. Zeller scored 16.5 points per game, pulled down 8.1 rebounds per game and hit 56 percent of his shots.
The Cleveland Cavaliers also surprised the experts by selecting UNLV forward Anthony Bennett with the first overall pick. Most expected Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel to go first, but he fell to sixth and the New Orleans Pelicans before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Michigan’s Trey Burke was picked with the ninth selection by the Minnesota Timberwolves before being traded to the Utah Jazz which included the No. 14 pick, Shabazz Muhammad of UCLA.
The Chicago Bulls picked at No. 20 and took Tony Snell from the University of New Mexico while the Indiana Pacers picked at No. 23 and selected Solomon Hill, a forward from Arizona. Michigan’s Tim Hardaway Jr. was taken with the 24th pick by the New York Knicks, which thrilled the partisan audience in the New York borough. Fort Wayne Luers and Ohio State standout Deshaun Thomas was selected with the 58th overall selection by the San Antonio Spurs.