Auburn’s Okoro, Alabama’s Lewis Jr. go in top 15 of NBA Draft
Auburn’s Isaac Okoro was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 5th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Alabama’s Kira Lewis Jr. was picked by the New Orleans Pelicans at pick 13.
CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have selected guard/forward Isaac Okoro (oh-CORE-oh) from Auburn University with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
In his lone collegiate season at Auburn in 2019-20, Okoro (6-6, 225) played in 28 games (all starts), averaging 12.8 points on .514 shooting, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 31.5 minutes per game. He was named to the 2019-20 All-SEC Second Team, All-Freshman Team and All-Defensive Team, becoming just the sixth player in SEC history to be named to an All-Conference Team, All-Defensive Team and All-Freshman Team in the same season, joining Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2011-12), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2011-12) and Nerlens Noel (2012-13), LSU’s Jordan Mickey (2013-14) and Texas A&M’s Robert Williams (2016-17). Okoro is Auburn’s highest draft pick since Chris Morris was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft.
Okoro finished the 2019-20 season ranked 10th among all NCAA Division I freshmen in field goal percentage (.514) and was named to the Auburn Athletic Director’s Honor Roll after maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA in the fall. He became just the fourth Auburn player to ever earn SEC Freshman of the Week twice in a season (Nov. 18 and Dec. 9) and was the second Auburn freshman since 1990 to score in double figures in each of his first six NCAA games. Okoro won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup. He attended McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia, where he averaged 19.7 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.7 steals as a senior in 2018-19 and led the team to a state championship.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Former Alabama men’s basketball guard Kira Lewis Jr. was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans as the No. 13 overall pick at the 2020 National Basketball Association Draft on Wednesday night.
Lewis was surrounded by his family, friends, coaches and former teammates at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala., to celebrate the NBA Draft proceedings. The family heard the news in a private room before joining the celebration later in the night.
LEWIS ON JOINING THE NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
“It’s very exciting to be a part of such a great young organization like the New Orleans Pelicans. They have a lot of veterans and younger players who mesh well. They compete, play above the rim and like to get out and run and play at fast pace, which is something I love. The fans and city of New Orleans are terrific and really support this organization. It’s a great situation because I feel like I can come right in and help them in whatever way they ask me for.”
