Former Gator Picked By Chicago, Traded To Toronto
Friday, June 27, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Former University of Florida men's basketball standout Matt Bonner was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft Thursday night when the Chicago Bulls used the 45th pick to select the All-SEC forward. Bonner was later traded to the Toronto Raptors for a future second round pick.
Bonner becomes the first Florida player to be selected in the draft since both Mike Miller and Donnell Harvey were both taken in the first round of the 2000 NBA draft. Bonner is the 22nd Florida player to be taken in the draft and the fourth under current head coach Billy Donovan.
A native of Concord, N.H., Bonner finished his career eighth on Florida's all-time scoring list with 1,570 points. He is the only player in Florida history to score 1,500 points, post 750 rebounds and hit over 150 three-pointers.
Bonner led the Gators in scoring during his senior season, averaging 15.2 points, while he led the SEC in three-point shooting at a .474 clip. He was honored as a First Team All-SEC selection by both the Associated Press and the SEC coaches, while finishing as the runner-up for the SEC Player of the Year. A three-time All-SEC selection, Bonner earned Honorable Mention AP All-America honors each of the past two seasons.
One of the most complete student-athletes to ever wear a Gator uniform, Bonner was college basketball's Academic All-American of the Year each of the past two years, while also winning the SEC's prestigious H. Boyd McWhorter post-graduate award as well as College Basketball's Student-Athlete of the Year this season.
Bonner is part of the most successful senior class in Florida history, class that won three SEC Eastern Division titles, two SEC titles, reached the Final Four and National Championship game in 2000 and combined for a four-year record of 100-32. It was the first senior class in Florida history to ever reach 100 wins during their career.
The Gators won at least 22 games each of his four seasons while advancing to the NCAA Tournament every year during that time. Florida finished 25-8 in 2002-03 and reached No. 1 in the national rankings in both major polls for the first time in school history.
FLORIDA GATORS IN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
GATORS SELECTED IN THE NBA DRAFT
PLAYER YEAR TEAM ROUND OVERALL
Hobbs, Joe 1958 Minneapolis 9th 63
Luyk, Cliff 1962 New York 4th 29
Henderson, Brooks 1965 Los Angeles 4th 33
Keller, Gary 1967 Los Angeles 6th 59
Miller, David 1968 Milwaukee 12th 159
Walk, Neal 1969 Phoenix 1st 2
Owens, Andy 1970 Seattle 11th 174
Shy, Eugene 1976 New York 10th 163
Sanders, Len 1977 Denver 8th 169
Brewster, Larry 1978 San Antonio 10th 201
Cesare, Malcom 1979 Phoenix 4th 86
Delancy, Vernon 1984 Milwaukee 3rd 67
Williams, Ronnie 1984 Boston 2nd 48
McDowell, Eugene 1985 Milwaukee 3rd 68
Moten, Andrew 1987 New Jersey 4th 72
Maxwell, Vernon 1988 Denver 2nd 47
Schintzius, Dwayne 1990 San Antonio 1st 24
DeClercq, Andrew 1995 Golden State 2nd 34
Williams, Jason 1998 Sacramento 1st 7
Harvey, Donnell 2000 New York 1st 22
Miller, Mike 2000 Orlando 1st 5
Bonner, Matt 2003 Chicago 2nd 45
Gator NBA Draftees by Round
Round Selections
1 5
2 4
3 2
4 4
6 1
8 1
9 1
10 2
11 1
12 1
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