The University of Oklahoma and the NBA Draft are no strangers. There have been 42 players drafted in the NBA Draft, 8 taken in the first round. There have also been 10 players drafted in the WNBA, five in the first round. Former Sooners have gone on to win NBA Championships and earn All-Stars honors in the league.
Here is a look at the eight Oklahoma Sooners basketball players drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Marcus Freiberger (1951) - Freiberger was the third pick of the NBA Draft, following his career at the University of Oklahoma. Freiberger was an NBA Draft bust following this early pick by the Indianapolis Olympians. While the center never went on to have a solid NBA career, he was a Gold Medalist on the 1952 Summer Olympics team, playing in seven games.
Garfield Heard (1970) - It was almost twenty years before another Sooner went in the first round of the NBA Draft. Heard was a record holder for the Sooners, scoring 21 double-doubles for a season in 1969-70. That record held for forty years until Blake Griffin broke it in 2009. Heard was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics and played eleven seasons for four different teams. Heard moved on to a coaching career, serving as head coach for the Dallas Mavericks (1993-94) and Washington Wizards (1999-2000).
Alvan Adams (1975) - Adams is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players in Oklahoma Sooners history. He is only one of four Sooners to have his jersey (#33) retired by Oklahoma. Adams is one of only three players in the history of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball program to score at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a single game. He was selected with the fourth pick of the NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, where he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1976. That season, he helped lead the Suns to the NBA Finals. He played his entire career with the Suns, scoring 13,910 career points.
Wayman Tisdale (1985) - Tisdale played for Oklahoma from 1983 to 1985, where he was a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year and was the first player ever named as a first-team All-American in his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. He still holds the Sooners record for most points scored by any player through his freshman and sophomore years. He won a gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics, playing alongside Michael Jordan. He was the second overall pick by the Indiana Pacers and played 12-seasons for three different teams. He averaged over 15 points and six rebounds over his career. Tisdale went on to have a successful jazz music career before cancer cut his life short in 2009.
The Wayman Tisdale Story celebrates the life of a great Oklahoman
Harvey Grant (1988) - Harvey Grant was the twelfth player drafted in the 1988 NBA Draft, selected by the Washington Bullets. The twin brother of Horace Grant, Harvey never reached the level of play of his brother but still played eleven seasons in the NBA for four teams. He was named Most Improved Player following his 1990-91 season when he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds, almost triple his average at that point. He retired from the league in 1999.
Stacey King (1989) - Stacey King had a standout career for the Oklahoma Sooners, one of four players to have his jersey (#33) retired. He was named Big Eight Player of the Year as a senior, averaging 26.0 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He is the Sooners all-time postseason leader in games played (12), points (246) and rebounds (93). He also holds the Big Eight record for most blocked shots (228) for a career. He was the sixth player drafted in the 1989 NBA Draft and had the most success of any Sooners player thanks to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. King played four seasons with the Bulls, winning three NBA Championships along the way. He is now retired and works as a color commentator for the Chicago Bulls.
Mookie Blaylock (1989) - The Oklahoma Sooners had a huge day at the 1989 NBA Draft, with Mookie Blaylock the second Sooners player taken in the first round and twelfth player overall. He produced more than 200 steals a season for Oklahoma every year of collegiate career. He, along with Stacey King, led the Sooners to the NCAA Championship game in 1988. Blaylock was drafted by the New Jersey Nets and started for them until he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 1992-93. He finished his career with the Golden State Warriors before retiring in 2002. He ranks 15th all-time in the NBA for three-pointers made (1,283) and eighth in total attempts (3,816). He also led the league in steals two years in a row (1996-98), only the third man to accomplish that feat.
Blake Griffin (2009) - Blake Griffin is the only Oklahoma Sooners player to be drafted first overall in the NBA Draft. The Los Angeles Clippers chose him with hopes he could help turn around their struggling franchise. Griffin finished his freshman year at Oklahoma averaging 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game and was the first Sooners player to be named to the All-Rookie team since Wayman Tisdale. He finished his sophomore year with 30 double-doubles, one short of the NCAA record held by David Robinson. His rookie year with the Clippers prematurely ended when Griffin suffered a stress fracture in his left knee and spent his entire first season on the bench.
Enjoy this article? Receive e-mail alerts when new articles are available. Just click on the “Subscribe” button below.
Comments