Want to hear some impressive numbers? After Thursday’s NBA Draft, Jim Calhoun’s UConn program has produced 13 lottery picks, 18 first round picks and 27 total draft picks. Hang on one second while I send those numbers to every recruit in America (and Germany). It’s an amazing testament to Calhoun and his player development as very few of those 27 were highly touted recruits when they arrived in Storrs.
With the draft fresh in our minds and the beginning of the 2012-2013 fake season months away, let’s hop on the Wistful Wagon™ and take a look at all of the pros that came from UConn.
We’ll start with the 2nd round picks today and 1st round picks tomorrow.
Stanley Robinson – 2010 | 59th | Orlando
Stanley Robinson, the most famous spot welder in UConn history. Sticks was the second-to-last pick of the 2010 draft after an enigmatic Husky career. He was never able to harness his athleticism and is still kicking around the NBA’s Developmental League. Last season he averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds per game for something called the Iowa Energy.
A.J. Price – 2009 | 52nd | Indiana
AJ Price had an eventful UConn career that included horrific injuries, criminal charges, and a Final Four appearance. By the time he graduated in 2009, he had become a respected point guard and has made a respectable career for himself as a backup for the Indiana Pacers. For his career, Price has averaged 6 points and 2 assists per game.
Denham Brown – 2006 | 40th | Seattle
Denham Brown once scored 111 points in a single game. That has no relevance to this conversation but it’s the law that you have to mention it when you talk about Denham Brown. Brown was picked in the 2nd round by Seattle in a prolific draft for UConn players. Unfortunately for Denham, he was cut before the season started and never played an NBA game. He kicked around the D-League for a couple of seasons before heading overseas. In 2011 he signed a deal with a Canadian team called the Oshawa Power.
Donny Marshall – 1995 | 39th | Cleveland
Donny Marshall played a total of 5 seasons in the NBA averaging less than half a point per game. He was beloved in Storrs for his all-out effort and emotional style of play and played a big role on some transcendent teams leading to the Golden Era of UConn basketball. Donny has since gone onto a successful broadcasting career, doing color for the Boston Celtics.
Clifford Robinson – 1989 | 36th | Portland
Cliff Robinson was the 1st UConn player in the Calhoun era to be drafted and managed to play in the NBA for a whopping 18 seasons. He was the Sixth Man of the Year in 1993 and an All Star in 1994 with the Blazers. For his career, Robinson averaged 14 points per game. He was also once traded for Pepe Sanchez, which is a really fun name to say.
Doron Sheffer – 1996 | 36th | L.A.Clippers
Doron Sheffer was drafted by the Clippers but never played an NBA game. Instead, he returned to his native Israel where he played professionally for many years. For much more on Sheffer, please read this piece from this winter.
Chris Smith – 1992 | 34th | Minnesota
Chris Smith is still the all time leading scorer in UConn history and at the time of his graduation was arguably one of the 5 best players that Storrs had ever seen. The Bridgeport native had trouble bringing those skills to the NBA however. Smith played only 3 seasons averaging around 5 points per game. After several years in the CBA (Hartford Hellcats forever!), Smith gave up basketball to go into banking.
Khalid El-Amin – 2000 | 34th | Chicago
After shocking the world at UConn, the pudgy point guard was a 2nd round pick of an impossibly bad post-Jordan Chicago Bulls team. Unfortunately for El-Amin, he played only 21 games before getting cut. He briefly signed on with the Dallas Mavericks but after they released him, he went overseas. In Eastern Europe, Khalid became a star – winning MVP awards in consecutive years, once in Turkey and once in the Ukrainian Basketball Super League.
Jake Voskuhl – 2000 | 33rd | Chicago
Jake Voskuhl was taken with the pick immediately before El-Amin and the two were briefly teammates in Chicago. The Texan with the hair made a nice career for himself. He played 9 seasons in the NBA and, at last count, had earned over $12 million in salary.
Stay tuned tomorrow for UConn’s 1st round picks.
[…] we covered 2nd round picks. Now onto the heavy […]