Wednesday, June 29, 2005 | Men's Basketball
The 2005 NBA Draft was held in a building forward David Lee will soon call home. Lee became the first University of Florida men's basketball player to be taken in the first round of the NBA Draft since 2000 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, when the New York Knicks selected him in the opening round with the 30th pick.
Lee is the 24th player in University of Florida history to be taken in the NBA Draft.
A four-year letter-winner, Lee was the first Gator selected in the opening round since both Miller Miller and Donnell Harvey were selected in 2000. Lee was the only SEC player selected in the opening round.
The St. Louis native finished his career with 1,436 points, good for 14th in school history, while finishing in the top 10 in school history in field goal percentage, blocks and dunks. Lee earned All-SEC honors each of his last two years and was a member of the All-SEC Tournament tam after helping the Gators to their first SEC Tournament title this past March. He became the first Gator in 15 years to average a double-double in SEC play, as he averaged 13.9 points and 10.3 rebounds in league action.
Lee is the sixth Gator drafted under Billy Donovan and the fourth first-rounder. The University of Florida has now been represented in three straight NBA Drafts, and has had at least one player selected in four of the last six drafts. Since 2000, Florida has had an SEC-high six players drafted, including Miller who was the No. 5 overall pick in 2001 and went on to be the NBA Rookie of the Year.
Florida Players Drafted Under Billy Donovan
Year Player Round, overall pick Team
1998 Jason Williams 1st, 7th overall Sacramento Kings
2000 Mike Miller 1st, 5th overall Orlando Magic
2000 Donnell Harvey 1st, 22nd overall New York Knicks
2003 Matt Bonner 2nd, 45th overall Chicago Bulls
2004 Christian Drejer 2nd, 51st overall New Jersey Nets
2005 David Lee 1st, 30th overall New York Knicks
NBA Draft Picks For SEC Schools Since 2000
1st Round 2nd Round Total
Florida 3 2 5
Kentucky 2 1 3
Alabama 1 2 3
Auburn 1 2 3
Mississippi St. 0 3 3
LSU 1 2 3
Georgia 1 1 2
Tennessee 1 1 2
Vanderbilt 0 2 2
Arkansas 1 0 1
Ole Miss 0 1 1
South Carolina 0 0 0
