List of Oklahoma Sooners in the NBA and WNBA Drafts
The University of Oklahoma men's basketball team has had 45 players drafted in the National Basketball Association (NBA) while the women's basketball team has had 14 players selected in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). This includes nine players taken in the first round of the NBA Draft and six players in the first round of the WNBA Draft. In 2009, Blake Griffin became the only Oklahoma basketball player to have been selected as the overall number one pick when he was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers. In the 2010s, eight Oklahoma players have been selected in their respective drafts. Five have been women: three in 2010, one in 2011, and one in 2013. The three men's players drafted in the decade have been Romero Osby in 2013 and Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins in 2016.
Each NBA and WNBA franchise seeks to add new players through their respective annual draft. The NBA uses a draft lottery to determine the first three picks of the NBA draft; the 14 teams that did not make the playoffs the previous year are eligible to participate. After the first three picks are decided, the rest of the teams pick in reverse order of their win–loss record.[1][2] To be eligible for the NBA Draft, a player in the United States must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft and must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.[3] From 1967 until the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, the American Basketball Association (ABA) held its own draft.[4] The WNBA Draft is similar to the NBA with a couple of exceptions. Only four WNBA teams are eligible for the draft lottery, compared to the 14 eligible teams in the NBA. Also, all non-playoff teams that participate in the draft lottery select their picks in the order of the lottery outcome; the remainder of the league selects in reverse order of their win–loss record.[5] The WNBA requires that players be at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the applicable seasons, have either graduated from a four-year university or have completed their intercollegiate basketball eligibility, or have played at least two seasons for another professional basketball league.[6]
Three former Sooner men have been selected to participate in an NBA All-Star Game, Alvan Adams, Mookie Blaylock and Blake Griffin, while two women, Stacey Dales and Danielle Robinson, have been selected to participate in a WNBA All-Star Game. Three former Sooner men have won championships with their respective teams.
Key
| F | Forward | C | Center | G | Guard |
| # | Active in the NBA as of the 2016–17 season, or the WNBA as of the 2016 season | ||||
| * | Selected to an NBA/WNBA All-Star Game | ||||
| † | Won an ABA/NBA/WNBA championship | ||||
Player selection
NBA Draft
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Player | Position | NBA team[A 1] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 8 | — | — | Courty, PaulPaul Courty | F | Providence Steamrollers | — |
| 1950 | 6 | — | — | Glasgow, WayneWayne Glasgow | F | Minneapolis Lakers | — |
| 1950 | 10 | — | — | Merchant, PaulPaul Merchant | F | Syracuse Nationals | — |
| 1951 | 1 | 3 | 3 | Freiberger, MarcusMarcus Freiberger | C | Indianapolis Olympians | — |
| 1954 | 11 | 7 | 106 | Waller, BobBob Waller | F | New York Knicks | — |
| 1958 | 6 | 4 | 44 | King, JoeJoe King | F/C | New York Knicks | — |
| 1962 | 8 | 2 | 62 | Fouts, WarrenWarren Fouts | F | New York Knicks | — |
| 1968 | 3 | 7 | 29 | Sidle, DonDon Sidle† | C | San Francisco Warriors | ABA Champion (1972)[7] |
| 1968 | 8 | 2 | 71 | Rogers, WillieWillie Rogers | F | Seattle SuperSonics | — |
| 1970 | 1 | 6 | 3 | Heard, GarfieldGarfield Heard | F | Seattle SuperSonics | — |
| 1971 | 3 | 5 | 33 | Ray, CliffordClifford Ray† | F | Chicago Bulls | NBA Champion (1975)[8] |
| 1972 | 8 | —[A 2] | 90 | Jack, BobbyBobby Jack | F | Cincinnati Royals | — |
| 1972 | 14 | 7 | 110 | Pettes, AndrewAndrew Pettes | G | Chicago Bulls | — |
| 1974 | 8 | 4 | 130 | Holland, TomTom Holland | F | Phoenix Suns | — |
| 1974 | 9 | 4 | 148 | Evans, TedTed Evans | C | Phoenix Suns | — |
| 1975 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Adams, AlvanAlvan Adams* | C | Phoenix Suns | All-Star (1976)[9] NBA Rookie of the Year Award (1976) |
| 1979 | 4 | 19 | 85 | McCullough, JohnJohn McCullough | G | Kansas City Kings | — |
| 1980 | 2 | 15 | 38 | Stotts, TerryTerry Stotts | F | Houston Rockets | — |
| 1980 | 3 | 17 | 63 | Beal, AlAl Beal | F | Milwaukee Bucks | — |
| 1980 | 5 | 6 | 98 | Curry, AaronAaron Curry | G | New Jersey Nets | — |
| 1983 | 3 | 14 | 61 | Little, DavidDavid Little | F | Denver Nuggets | — |
| 1983 | 5 | 1 | 94 | Barnett, ChuckyChucky Barnett | G | Houston Rockets | — |
| 1983 | 5 | 11 | 104 | Jones, CharlesCharles Jones | C | Atlanta Hawks | — |
| 1983 | 10 | 18 | 224 | Overton, BoBo Overton | G | Phoenix Suns | — |
| 1984 | 9 | 2 | 186 | Pierce, CalvinCalvin Pierce | F | Chicago Bulls | — |
| 1985 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Tisdale, WaymanWayman Tisdale | C | Indiana Pacers | — |
| 1986 | 3 | 19 | 66 | Bowie, AnthonyAnthony Bowie | G | Houston Rockets | — |
| 1987 | 3 | 1 | 47 | McCalister, TimTim McCalister | G | Los Angeles Clippers | — |
| 1987 | 4 | 20 | 89 | Johnson, DavidDavid Johnson | F | Dallas Mavericks | — |
| 1987 | 4 | 22 | 91 | Kennedy, DarrylDarryl Kennedy | F | Boston Celtics | — |
| 1988 | 1 | 12 | 12 | Grant, HarveyHarvey Grant | G | Washington Wizards | — |
| 1988 | 3 | 17 | 67 | Grace, RickyRicky Grace | G | Utah Jazz | — |
| 1989 | 1 | 6 | 6 | King, StaceyStacey King† | C | Chicago Bulls | NBA Champion (1991, 1992, 1993)[10] |
| 1989 | 1 | 12 | 12 | Blaylock, MookieMookie Blaylock* | G | New Jersey Nets | All-Star (1994)[11] |
| 1992 | 2 | 5 | 32 | Price, BrentBrent Price | G | Washington Wizards | — |
| 1994 | 2 | 13 | 40 | Webster, JeffJeff Webster | F | Miami Heat | — |
| 1996 | 2 | 3 | 32 | Minor, RyanRyan Minor | F | Philadelphia 76ers | — |
| 1997 | 2 | 28 | 57 | Erdmann, NateNate Erdmann | G | Utah Jazz | — |
| 2000 | 2 | 9 | 39 | Nájera, EduardoEduardo Nájera | F | Houston Rockets | — |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Griffin, BlakeBlake Griffin# | F | Los Angeles Clippers | All-Star (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) All-NBA Second Team (2012, 2013, 2014) NBA Rookie of the Year Award (2011) |
| 2009 | 2 | 18 | 46 | Griffin, TaylorTaylor Griffin | F | Phoenix Suns | — |
| 2013 | 2 | 21 | 51 | Osby, RomeroRomero Osby | F | Orlando Magic | — |
| 2016 | 1 | 6 | 6 | Hield, BuddyBuddy Hield# | G | New Orleans Pelicans | — |
| 2016 | 2 | 29 | 59 | Cousins, IsaiahIsaiah Cousins | G | Sacramento Kings | — |
WNBA Draft
| Year | Rnd | Pick | Overall | Player name | Position | WNBA team[A 1] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3 | 6 | 38 | Whaley, PhyleshaPhylesha Whaley | F | Minnesota Lynx | — |
| 2002 | 1 | 3 | 3 | Dales, StaceyStacey Dales* | G/F | Washington Mystics | All-Star (2002)[12] |
| 2002 | 1 | 14 | 14 | Caufield, LaNeishaLaNeisha Caufield | G | Utah Starzz | — |
| 2002 | 1 | 16 | 16 | Ross, RosalindRosalind Ross | G | Los Angeles Sparks | — |
| 2004 | 3 | 1 | 27 | Villaroel, MariaMaria Villaroel | G | Phoenix Mercury | — |
| 2005 | 1 | 13 | 13 | Jackson, DionnahDionnah Jackson | F | Detroit Shock | — |
| 2007 | 3 | 2 | 28 | Rush, LeahLeah Rush | F | Phoenix Mercury | — |
| 2009 | 1 | 7 | 7 | Paris, CourtneyCourtney Paris# | C | Sacramento Monarchs | — |
| 2009 | 2 | 9 | 22 | Paris, AshleyAshley Paris | F | Los Angeles Sparks | — |
| 2010 | 2 | 7 | 19[13] | Thompson, AmandaAmanda Thompson | F | Tulsa Shock | — |
| 2010 | 3 | 4 | 28 | Olajuwon, AbiAbi Olajuwon | C | Chicago Sky | — |
| 2010 | 3 | 12 | 36 | Stevenson, NyeshiaNyeshia Stevenson | G/F | Phoenix Mercury | — |
| 2011 | 1 | 6 | 6 | Robinson, DanielleDanielle Robinson*# | G | San Antonio Silver Stars | All-Star (2013,[14] 2014,[15] 2015[16]) |
| 2013 | 3 | 8 | 32 | Hand, WhitneyWhitney Hand | G | San Antonio Silver Stars | — |
Notes
References
- General
- "2009–10 Men's Basketball Media Guide". University of Oklahoma Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
- "NBA Draft Picks From University of Oklahoma". Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
- "All-Time WNBA Draft List". WNBA Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
- Specific
- ↑ "Evolution of the Draft and Lottery". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ↑ Dengate, Jeff (2007-05-16). "Let the Ping-Pong Balls Fall". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ↑ "Article X, Section 1(b)(i)". 2005 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. National Basketball Players Association. Archived from the original on 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ↑ Pluto, Terry (1990). Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association. Simon & Schuster. p. 432. ISBN 1-4165-4061-X. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
- ↑ "Atlanta Dream Win Top Pick in 2009 WNBA Draft". WNBA Enterprises, LLC. 2008-12-09. Archived from the original on 2009-11-18.
- ↑ "Hoops 101: Reneé Brown". WNBA Media Ventures, LLC. Archived from the original on 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ↑ "1971–72 Indiana Pacers Roster and Statistics". Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ↑ "Magic rookie has big influence". The Sporting News. NBC Sports/MSNBC. 2005-01-19. Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
[Ray] chuckles at Howard's salary, pointing out that when the Warriors won the championship in 1975 and he led the team in rebounding...
- ↑ "NBA Rookie Award to Alvan Adams". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. The Associated Press. 1976-05-09. p. D9. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
...He was the leading write-in candidate in the fan balloting for the 1976 All-Star Game and was chosen for the team by the West coaches...
- ↑ Schmidt, Andy (2007-17-31). "Ex-Bull Stacey King leadings A's". McHenryCountySports.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-11. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
The 40-year-old King, who was part of the Bulls’ first three championship teams from 1991–93...
Check date values in:|date=(help) - ↑ Frey, Jennifer (1994-02-02). "Ewing, Starks on All-Stars". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
...Starks and Ewing were joined by Atlanta's Mookie Blaylock and Dominique Wilkins...
- ↑ Sandoval, Greg (2005-02-03). "Mystics Guard Announces Retirement". The Washington Post. p. D09. Archived from the original on 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
...Dales-Schuman made the WNBA all-star team in 2002...
- ↑ "WNBA draft: LA Sparks take OSU's Riley No. 8; OU's Thompson headed to Tulsa". Tulsa World. 2010-04-08. Archived from the original on 2010-04-08. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
- ↑ Feinberg, Doug (July 27, 2013). "Parker scores record 23 to lead West over East". WNBA. Associated Press. Retrieved November 8, 2013. See also the game box score, which lists Robinson as having played for the West team.
- ↑ "Sisters Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike Headline Reserves For Boost Mobile WNBA All-Star 2014" (Press release). WNBA. July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ↑ "Bird, Pondexter Highlight Reserves For Boost Mobile WNBA All–Star 2015" (Press release). WNBA. July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.