TUCSON, Ariz. – Thursday evening will mark the next step in the professional careers of former Arizona stars Brandon Ashley, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Stanley Johnson and T.J. McConnell, as the NBA Draft is set for 4 p.m. MST at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The draft will be televised on ESPN and WatchESPN.
Arizona Draft History
Arizona has produced 67 NBA Draft picks since 1948 … The Wildcats have had 38 players drafted since 1988, tied with Duke and Kentucky for the most nationally over that timeframe … The Wildcats’ five draft picks since 2011 at the eighth-most nationally over the span and their four draft picks since 2013 at the second-most nationally in that time … UA has had at least one player selected in 22 of the last 27 NBA Drafts, including 17 first-round choices and 12 lottery picks … Ten of UA’s last 12 first-round selections have been lottery picks … Five of UA’s last eight overall selections have been first-rounders … The Wildcats have produced a total of 19 first-round picks in program history … Fourteen Arizona underclassmen have entered the draft early and been selected since 1991: Brian Williams (1991), Mike Bibby (1998), Gilbert Arenas (2001), Richard Jefferson (2001), Michael Wright (2001), Andre Iguodala (2004), Marcus Williams (2007), Jerryd Bayless (2008), Chase Budinger (2009), Jordan Hill (2009), Derrick Williams (2011), Grant Jerrett (2013), Aaron Gordon (2014) and Nick Johnson (2014) … Five UA players have been drafted in six years under head coach Sean Miller: Williams (2011), Solomon Hill (2013), Jerrett (2013), Gordon (2014) and Johnson (2014) … Arizona has had three first-round picks in the last four years, and five first-round picks since 2008 … There have been 18 occasions on which multiple Arizona players have been drafted in the same year, including 11 times since 1988 … UA has had multiple first-round picks in the same year twice (1989, 1998) … The most UA players ever selected in one draft is five (2001).
About Brandon Ashley
An honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection as a junior after averaging 12.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game … Named 2015 Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging a team-high 19.7 points and 6.3 rebounds, while shooting 73.1 percent from the floor, to lead UA to the championship … Played in 22 games as a sophomore, averaging 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds, before sustaining a season-ending foot injury … Averaged 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a freshman … Finished his career with 55 double-figure scoring games, six double-figure rebounding games and four double-doubles … Had career averages of 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in 95 games … Shot 51.9 percent from the floor and 72.4 percent from the line for his career.
Ashley’s Combine Highlights
Checked in with a 7-3.75 wingspan at the NBA Draft Combine to rank fifth in the entire field … Averaged 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds during the two days of 5-on-5 competition.
About Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Named first-team All-Pac-12 and to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team in 2015 after averaging 11.2 points, a team-high 6.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and a team-high 0.8 blocks … Tabbed for the NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team, Pac-12 Tournament All-Tournament Team and EA Sports Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team as a sophomore … A finalist for the inaugural Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award in 2015 … Named to the 2014 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team after posting averages of 9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game … Finished his career with 45 double-figure scoring games, seven double-figure rebounding games and six double-doubles … Had career averages of 10.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks in 76 games.
Hollis-Jefferson’s Combine Highlights
Ranked 10th overall at the camp and third in his position group with a 5.00 percent body fat reading … Led his position group with a 9.75-inch hand width measurement … Ranked second in his position group with a 7-2 wingspan … Ranked third in the entire field and first in his position group with a lane agility time of 10.51 seconds … Ranked second at the combine and first in his position group with a three-quarter court sprint time of 3.12 seconds … Ranked third in his position group with a 38-inch max vertical jump.
About Stanley Johnson
Earned third-team All-America honors from the NABC and was named to the five-man USBWA Freshman All-America Team after averaging a team-high 13.8 points to go along with 6.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game … Winner of the inaugural Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award … Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and was the lone freshman to garner All-Pac-12 first team honors … Collected MVP honors at the EA Sports Maui Invitational after leading UA to the title with averages of 15.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals … Named to the Pac-12 Tournament All-Tournament Team … A two-time Pac-12 Player of the Week … Finished the season ranked third on UA’s freshman charts in points (523) and steals (57), fourth in free throws (132), fifth in free throw attempts (178), rebounds (247) and minutes played (1,081), sixth in three-point field goals (43) and seventh in field goals (174) … Scored in double figures 30 times and recorded three double-doubles.
Johnson’s Combine Highlights
Participated only in the anthropometric testing … Weighed in at 241.8 pounds with just 7.50 percent body fat … Checked in with a 6-11.5 wing span.
About T.J. McConnell
A two-time finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award … Named to the All-Pac-12 first team as a senior and second team as a junior … A two-time Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection … An NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team and Pac-12 Tournament All-Tournament Team selection in 2015 … Capped his career with the program record for assist-to-turnover ratio (3.03) … Started all 38 games as a senior, averaging 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and team highs of 6.3 assists and 2.2 steals … Ranked 11th nationally in both assist average (6.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.05) as a senior, leading the Pac-12 in both categories … Finished his senior season with 238 assists to rank second on Arizona’s single-season chart and 83 steals to mark the third-best single-season total in program history … Averaged 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and team highs of 5.3 assists and 1.7 steals as a junior … Averaged 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.8 steals per game as a sophomore at Duquesne, ranking third nationally in steals per game … Named 2011 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year after averaging 10.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.8 steals per game with a 2.50 assist-to-turnover ratio … Ranked fourth nationally in steals as a freshman and his 2.50 assist-to-turnover ratio was the sixth-best for a freshman in NCAA history … Finished his collegiate career with 1,414 points, 751 assists and 324 steals.
McConnell’s Combine Highlights
Ranked fourth among point guards with a 10.84 lane agility time … Stood out in the 5-on-5 scrimmages, averaging 3.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals in an average of 21.0 minutes per game … Had a 2.75 assist-to-turnover ratio in the combine scrimmages.
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