NBA Players Who Attended Memphis
Since the NBA Draft began in 1947, 50 players from Memphis have been drafted with an additional four signed as undrafted free agents. Of the 50 drafted players, 28 played in at least one NBA (or ABA) game. Memphis has produced 13 first-round picks, including 8 top-ten picks and 1 number-one pick (Derrick Rose). Three former Tigers have been named NBA All Stars: Larry Kenon (2 times), Anfernee Hardaway (4 times), and Derrick Rose (3 times). Two have gone on to win the NBA Championship: Win Wilfong with the St. Louis Hawks in 1958 and Earl Barron with the Miami Heat in 2006. In 2010, Memphis became the second college to produce two consecutive NBA Rookie of the Year winners: Derrick Rose in 2009 and Tyreke Evans in 2010 (the first being North Carolina with winners Walter Davis in 1978 and Phil Ford in 1979). In 2011, Derrick Rose became the first former Tiger to be named the NBA Most Valuable Player.
| NBA Players Who Attended Memphis (incl. ABA) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Draft Year | Round | Pick | Team | Achievements |
| Win Wilfong | 1957 | 1 | 4th | St. Louis Hawks | 1958 NBA Champion |
| Wayne Yates | 1961 | 1 | 5th | Los Angeles Lakers | |
| Mike Butler | 1968 | 10 | 121st | San Diego Rockets | 1971 ABA Champion |
| Rich Jones | 1969 | 5 | 58th | Phoenix Suns | 2x ABA All Star, 1976 ABA Champion |
| Ronnie Robinson | 1973 | 4 | 60th | Phoenix Suns | |
| Larry Kenon | 1973 | 3 | 50th | Detroit Pistons | 2x NBA All Star, 3x ABA All Star, 1974 ABA Champion |
| Larry Finch | 1973 | 4 | 68th | Los Angeles Lakers | |
| Hank McDowell | 1981 | 5 | 102nd | Golden State Warriors | |
| Keith Lee | 1985 | 1 | 11th | Chicago Bulls | |
| Andre Turner | 1986 | 3 | 69th | Los Angeles Lakers | |
| William Bedford | 1986 | 1 | 6th | Phoenix Suns | |
| Vincent Askew | 1987 | 2 | 39th | Philadelphia 76ers | |
| Sylvester Gray | 1988 | 2 | 35th | Miami Heat | |
| Elliot Perry | 1991 | 2 | 37th | Los Angeles Clippers | |
| Anfernee Hardaway | 1993 | 1 | 3rd | Golden State Warriors | 4x NBA All Star |
| Todd Mundt | 1995 | - | - | undrafted | |
| David Vaughn III | 1995 | 1 | 25th | Orlando Magic | |
| Lorenzen Wright | 1996 | 1 | 7th | Los Angeles Clippers | |
| Cedric Henderson | 1997 | 2 | 44th | Cleveland Cavaliers | |
| Chris Garner | 1997 | - | - | undrafted | |
| Dajuan Wagner | 2002 | 1 | 6th | Cleveland Cavaliers | |
| Antonio Burks | 2004 | 2 | 37th | Orlando Magic | |
| Earl Barron | 2005 | - | - | undrafted | 2006 NBA Champion |
| Shawne Williams | 2006 | 1 | 17th | Indiana Pacers | |
| Rodney Carney | 2006 | 1 | 16th | Chicago Bulls | |
| Darius Washington, Jr. | 2007 | - | - | undrafted | |
| Chris Douglas-Roberts | 2008 | 2 | 40th | New Jersey Nets | |
| Joey Dorsey | 2008 | 2 | 33rd | Portland Trailblazers | |
| Derrick Rose | 2008 | 1 | 1st | Chicago Bulls | 3x NBA All Star, 2011 NBA MVP, NBA Rookie of the Year |
| Tyreke Evans | 2009 | 1 | 4th | Sacramento Kings | NBA Rookie of the Year |
| Elliot Williams | 2010 | 1 | 22nd | Portland Trailblazers | |
| Will Barton | 2012 | 2 | 40th | Portland Trailblazers | |
currently active players are in bold
- a Player chose to play professionally in the American Basketball Association (ABA) which existed from 1967-1976.
- b Rich Jones was originally drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 1968 in the 4th Round as the 49th pick, but opted not to play. In 1969, he was drafted again by the Suns but chose instead to play in the ABA for the Dallas Chaparrals. He would eventually play in the NBA in 1976 when the New Jersey Nets joined as part of the NBA-ABA merger.
- c Larry Kenon moved to the NBA after the San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA in 1976, as part of the NBA-ABA merger.
| Players Drafted But Never Played | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Draft Year | Round | Pick | Team |
| Jack Butcher | 1957 | 10 | 75th | Boston Celtics |
| Jim Hackaday | 1959 | 3 | 17th | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Orby Arnold | 1959 | 7 | 53rd | St. Louis Hawks |
| George Price | 1960 | 8 | 58th | New York Knicks |
| Lowery Kirk | 1961 | 4 | 34th | Cincinnati Royals |
| Hunter Beckman | 1963 | 7 | 58th | Cincinnati Royals |
| George Kirk | 1964 | 5 | 42nd | Cincinnati Royals |
| Bob Neumann | 1964 | 10 | 83rd | Cincinnati Royals |
| James Douglas | 1971 | 16 | 226th | Buffalo Braves |
| Doug Holcomb | 1972 | 6 | 94th | Boston Celtics |
| Bill Cook | 1976 | 3 | 49th | Washington Bullets |
| Marion Hillard | 1976 | 4 | 65th | Washington Bullets |
| James Bradley | 1979 | 2 | 35th | Atlanta Hawks |
| Rodney Lee | 1979 | 8 | 150th | Detroit Pistons |
| Dennis Isbell | 1981 | 5 | 100th | San Diego Clippers |
| Otis Jackson | 1982 | 8 | 174th | New Jersey Nets |
| Chris Faggi | 1982 | 8 | 179th | San Antonio Spurs |
| Bobby Parks | 1984 | 3 | 58th | Atlanta Hawks |
| Phillip Haynes | 1984 | 6 | 121st | Los Angeles Clippers |
| Baskerville Holmes | 1986 | 3 | 68th | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Dwight Boyd | 1988 | 3 | 66th | Denver Nuggets |
| Robert Dozier | 2009 | 2 | 60th | Miami Heat |
Source:
Read more about this topic: Memphis Tigers Men's Basketball
Famous quotes containing the words players and/or attended:
“Will you see the players well bestowed? Do you hear, let them
be well used, for they are the abstracts and brief chronicles of the time. After your death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“[T]he people seem to have deposited the monarchical and taken up the republican government with as much ease as would have attended their throwing off an old and putting on a new suit of clothes.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)