With the 2017 NBA Draft quickly approaching, Markelle Fultz may become Washington Basketball Team’s first top draft pick in men’s basketball program history.
Following a 9-22 season, new head coach Mike Hopkins leads the Washington Basketball program into a rebuilding era. Despite recent struggles on the court, Washington Basketball remains at the pinnacle of manufacturing NBA talent. And that will continue with the 2017 NBA Draft.
As the program pauses to reorient to the new coaching staff, scheme, and outlook, this is a great time to join the team in that pause. Now, we can reflect on the players who played their hearts out for the Washington Huskies, and took that competitive fire onwards and upwards to the NBA.
Here’s a look at six Huskies drafted in the past eight years:
Marquese Chriss
Dejounte Murray
C.J. Wilcox
Terrence Ross
Tony Wroten
Isaiah Thomas
Now let’s dive into each player’s NBA story.
Marquese Chriss
Marquese Chriss shot up 2016 mock drafts and became an unexpected top 10 pick. The electrifying forward averaged nearly 14 points and five rebounds per game for the Huskies, later declaring for the NBA Draft. Chriss was under-recruited by college programs despite being an ESPN100 recruit. Only Washington and Vanderbilt offered scholarships to the Elk Grove, Calif. native.
The Phoenix Suns drafted Chriss 8th overall–a steal for a team loaded with young talent. Chriss played in all 82 games of his rookie season and is yet to celebrate his 20th birthday. He scored nine per game for Phoenix and consistently made highlight reels with flashy dunks.
The Suns finished dead last in the West, but have a bright future with a stockpile of talent and the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft.
Dejounte Murray
Dejounte Murray also went in the first round of the 2016 Draft along with teammate Chriss. Murray was another one-and-done college player, averaging 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as a freshman at UW.
Murray went to the Spurs with the 29th overall pick. San Antonio became a great fit for a player who some experts claimed was not ready for the NBA. A full season of learning behind veterans Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli combined with playoff experience was valuable for the developing guard.
Murray averaged 15 minutes per game in the playoffs for the Spurs. His strongest performance came in game six against Houston, earning a double double with 11 points and 10 boards.
C.J. Wilcox
The 2014 NBA Draft saw another Husky first rounder, C.J. Wilcox. Wilcox went 28th overall to the Los Angeles Clippers.
In his four years at UW, Wilcox did most of his work on catch-and-shoot three pointers, accumulating 301 made threes in his career. Wilcox appeared in at least 32 games every season of his career. He helped lead the Huskies to win the 2011 Pac-12 tournament and the 2012 regular season conference title.
His prolific shooting failed to translate well to the NBA. The Clippers traded Wilcox to the Orlando Magic after two underwhelming seasons in L.A. He played just 22 games for Orlando this most recent season, slowed by a knee injury and inconsistent play.
Terrence Ross
The Toronto Raptors selected Terrence Ross with the eighth overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. Ross played two years at Washington, averaging over 16 points and six rebounds during his sophomore season. Ross was a valuable part of two very good Huskies teams in 2011 and 2012.
The guard was ranked the 43rd best player in his high school class. After receiving offers from the likes of Kansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, Ross decided to play for the Huskies.
Ross played several seasons for Toronto and was dealt to the Magic just before the 2017 All Star Break. This most recent season was the best of Ross’ career, and he showed flashes of his potential in 24 games with Orlando. The 26-year-old averaged 12.5 points in 31.2 minutes per game with the Magic.
Tony Wroten
Another one-and-done UW star, Tony Wroten was selected in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft. Wroten averaged 16 points per game for the Huskies before the Memphis Grizzlies selected him at 25th overall. He played alongside C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross, powering UW to a regular season conference championship.
The guard lasted just one year in Memphis before playing a few years in Philadelphia. Wroten was playing the best basketball of his pro career in the 2014-15 season before his year was cut short by a partially torn ACL. He was averaging nearly 17 points per game through 30 games with the Sixers.
He last appeared in six games for Philadelphia during the 2015-16 season.
Isaiah Thomas
The most well known UW alum in the NBA is Isaiah Thomas. The Sacramento Kings took Thomas with the 30th pick of the second round in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge manufactured a three team trade at the 2015 trade deadline to bring Thomas to Boston.
Thomas is thriving as a Celtic, shattering career highs last season. Averaging about 29 points per game, he thrust Boston into the playoffs as the top seed. He suffered a hip injury and had to watch Cleveland take down the Celtics in the playoffs.
Thomas’ three seasons at UW were memorable in their own right. He averaged 16.4 points per game in his career and was named First Team All Pac-10 in 2010 and 2011.
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He helped lead an underdog 11th seeded Washington team to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010. In 2011, the Huskies advanced to the second round before a tough three point loss to two seed North Carolina.
His most memorable moment? His iconic buzzer beater to defeat Arizona in the Pac-10 tournament championship: