The Big East was dominated by two teams throughout this year, and that trend held in this year’s NBA draft, as UConn and St. John’s were the only Big East teams to have players drafted. The Johnnies led the way with three players selected, while UConn had two players drafted.
5 Big East Players Get Selected in The NBA Draft
UConn
Another dominant year for UConn ended with a loss in the National Championship game to Michigan, resulting in two Huskies being selected in the first round of the NBA draft. First was Tarris Reed Jr., who got selected with the 26th pick. Reed is going from the college runner-up to the NBA runner-up as the San Antonio Spurs traded up to get him. Just a few picks later, UConn’s all-time winningest player, Alex Karaban, was selected at pick 29 as the Sacramento Kings traded up to get him. The last time the Huskies had two players selected in the first round was in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Having players drafted in the first round is nothing new for the Huskies. We have to go back to the 2022 draft to find the last time a Husky was not picked in the first round, as Tyrese Martin went in round two. If we want to find the last time there were no UConn Huskies selected in the NBA Draft, we have to go back to the 2020 NBA Draft, which only had two Big East players selected, and they both went in the second round.
Since rejoining the Big East in the 2020-2021 season, UConn has had 11 players selected in the NBA Draft. This is the most out of any Big East team in that timeframe. The next most is Marquette, which has had four players drafted in this timeframe. Combined with the coaching of Dan Hurley, it is no wonder that the Huskies have been so dominant since rejoining the Big East.
St. John’s
St. John’s also had a lot of success, and they are currently the back-to-back Big East regular-season and tournament champions. This is a feat that has never been accomplished before by the Johnnies until this past season, of course. St. John’s has never won back-to-back Big East tournament championships. However, the last time they won back-to-back regular season championships was in the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons. This was not the only history that the Johnnies made this year.
With the 23rd pick in the NBA Draft this year, the Atlanta Hawks selected Zuby Ejiofor. This is the first time a St. John’s player has been selected in the first round since Moe Harkless was drafted in the 2012 draft. The last St. John’s player selected in the NBA Draft overall before Ejiofor was Sir’Dominic Pointer in 2015. As if this were not enough history for St. John’s already, they made more on the second night of the draft.
With the 40th overall pick, the Boston Celtics selected Dillon Mitchell. The last time the Johnnies had two players selected in the draft was in 2000. Coincidentally, Pitino was the coach of the Boston Celtics at the time of this draft. Then at pick 49, the Denver Nuggets selected Bryce Hopkins to cap off the night for St. John’s and the Big East. We have to go all the way back to the 1983 NBA Draft to find the last time St. John’s had three players selected in the same draft. We will not mention that the 1983 NBA Draft had 10 rounds.
In 1983, Pitino left his head coaching position at Boston University to become an assistant for the New York Knicks. It’s safe to say that Pitino’s second return to New York has been a great homecoming.
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