2010 NBA Draft: From Morgantown To The NBA...West Virginia Mountaineers at MSG

Last night under the bright lights of the Big Apple, the NBA held its annual college player draft at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. 

West Virginia added two new names to the list of draft picks to its program’s history. Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks were selected in the 2nd round with the 42nd and 43rd picks respectively.

Da'Sean Butler was selected with the 42nd pick overall by the Miami Heat. Butler, the leader of the Mountaineers Final Four run, scored 17 points and grabbed down six rebounds per game in the 2009 season. Devin Ebanks was selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 43rd overall pick last night. Ebanks, who averaged 12.0 points while grabbing 8 rebounds, was another major player in the Mountaineers in their run to the Final Four where coming up short to eventual National Champions Duke.

Butler was picked by the Miami Heat which was eliminated in the first round by the eventual Eastern Conference Champions Boston Celtics four games to one. Ebanks joins the Lakers who just won their second straight NBA championship by defeating the Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The addition of the selections of Butler and Ebanks grows the history of NBA draft picks for the Mountaineers. Here is a look at the highest picked West Virginia alums to make from Morgantown to the NBA

The Mountaineers gained their first round draft pick back in 1952 as Mark Workman was selected by the then Milwaukee Hawks at 11^th overall. Mark Workman, a Charleston, WV native, played with the Mountaineers from 1950 to 1952 while averaging 20 points per game along with 5 rebounds a game. Workman gained All-America honors in 1952 while scoring 23 points a game and becoming at that time, becoming only the third All-American in West Virginia History.  Marc Workman played from 1952 to 1954 playing for the Milwaukee Hawks, Philadelphia Warriors, and Baltimore Bullets before retiring from competitive basketball.

Later that decade, West Virginia gained it second NBA first round selection in Rod Hundley by the Cincinnati Royals in 1957 with the first overall pick in the draft. Hundley, more affectionately referred to as “Hot Rod” by fans, was also born in Charleston, WV and began his college career with the Mountaineers in 1955. He is only one of three Mountaineers that have scored more than 2000 points along with Jerry West and Da’Sean Butler.

  Hundley was a two time All-American in 1956-57 while averaging 24 points a game and grabbing down 10 rebounds during his career. Hundley, after being drafted by Cincinnati, was immediately traded to the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers which he played from 1957 to 1963. He finished his career with more than 3000 points, 1400 rebounds, and 1400 assists.

The logo of the NBA was drafted in 1960 from the old Gold and Blue. Jerry West was selected with the 2^nd overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers spending 14 years with the team. The Cheylan, WV native led the Mountaineers in scoring in his three years in Morgantown and holds the career scoring record to this day for WVU.  West also holds nine major offensive categories to this day including rebounds, steals, and 30 point games at West Virginia.            

As a pro, West scored more than 25,00o points, 5000 rebounds, and 6000 assists from 1960 to 1974 while being a 14 time NBA all-star for the Lakers. West was selected to the NBA’s 50 anniversary team in 1996 while being named 1969 NBA most valuable player and winning the 1972 NBA Championship

In 1964, Rob Thorn was selected in the first round by the Baltimore Bullets with third pick overall. Thorn, which played from 1961 to 1963, scored 21 points a game with 11 rebounds during his playing career in the Mountain State.  As he grew up in Princeton, he was such a major basketball talent from West Virginia that the state legislature declared him a state natural resource during his high school years.  

  He scored more than 1700 points in his career while West Virginia posted a 70-18 and posting two NCAA tournament appearances. Thorn played with Baltimore, Detroit, and Seattle during his NBA career while his time with Seattle producing his best season of 15 points and 4 rebounds per game in his final season.

The last 1^st round selection for the Mountaineers was in 2008 with Joe Alexander going to the Milwaukee Bucks with the eight overall pick that year.  While in Morgantown, Alexander finished his career averaging 12 points a game with 4 rebounds in his three seasons.  In his junior season, he led the team to a Big East Tournament semi-final game with Georgetown leading to a run to the Sweet Sixteen until being knocked off by third ranked Xavier. Alexander has had very lack luster professional career so far while in Milwaukee and was traded to the Chicago Bulls in February 2010.

West Virginia has a rich basketball tradition which should grow since former player and present coach Bob Huggins has taken the reigns of the basketball program. I see many more first rounds picks coming out of Morgantown and making a big impact on the Association as time goes on.