What to Know
- Guard Lonnie Walker IV was taken with the 18th pick overall by the San Antonio Spurs during Thursday’s draft.
- One of Walker’s teammates from last season, Bruce Brown Jr., was selected in the second round by the Detroit Pistons.
For just the fifth time in program history, the Miami Hurricanes basketball team is celebrating having a player selected in the first round of the NBA Draft – but that wasn’t all they had to cheer about.
Guard Lonnie Walker IV was taken with the 18th pick overall by the San Antonio Spurs during Thursday’s draft, held inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The Pennsylvania native and former McDonald’s All-American played just one season for the Canes, leading the team in scoring by averaging 11.5 points per game as Miami made it to the NCAA Tournament. Walker became just the third player from the program to be drafted in one of the first 20 picks, joining former Miami stars Rick Barry and Shane Larkin.
One of Walker’s teammates from last season, Bruce Brown Jr., is also now a member of the pro basketball family after the guard was selected in the second round – with the 42nd overall pick – by the Detroit Pistons.
Brown, a Massachusetts native, played two seasons in South Florida but saw his 2017-18 campaign cut short with a foot injury that required surgery. Brown stated 48 of the 52 games he played in with the Hurricanes, averaging 11.7 points and 6.2 rebounds a game for his college career.
Walker and Brown were the only players selected from a Florida college during this year’s draft.
