Timberwolves Select Calathes In Second Round of NBA Draft
Friday, June 26, 2009 | Men's Basketball
University of Florida point guard Nick Calathes was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 45th pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night. Calathes became the 13th Gator drafted under head coach Billy Donovan.
Calathes became the third Gator since 2007 to be drafted by the Timberwolves, joining Corey Brewer (1st round, 7th overall pick in 2007) and Chris Richard (2nd round, 41st overall pick in 2007).
He has already signed a professional deal with Panathinaikos, a powerful Euroleague team in Greece, putting his NBA career on hold for the time being.
Florida has now had at least one player drafted six of the past seven years and the Gators have now had an SEC-leading 12 players drafted since 2000 alone.
Calathes led UF in scoring in each of his two seasons in Gainesville and was a First-Team All-SEC selection this season after sharing Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors a year ago.
He broke the school record for assists in each of his two seasons at UF, totaling 221 as a freshman and 231 this past season. He led the SEC in assists and assists per game both years. Over his two years at Florida he finished with 1,170 points, the highest freshman-sophomore total in Gator history.
Calathes led UF in scoring at 17.2 points per game, assists at 6.4 per contest and in steals with 68. He was the only player in the nation to average better than 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game last season.
Calathes had two triple-doubles in his career and is the only player in UF history to record multiple triple-doubles.
FLORIDA GATORS DRAFT HISTORY
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
Matt Bonner 2003 Chicago 2nd 45
Christian Drejer 2004 New Jersey 2nd 51
David Lee 2005 New York 1st 30
Al Horford 2007 Atlanta 1st 3
Corey Brewer 2007 Minnesota 1st 7
Joakim Noah 2007 Chicago 1st 9
Chris Richard 2007 Minnesota 2nd 41
Taurean Green 2007 Portland 2nd 52
Marreese Speights 2008 Philadelphia 1st 16
Nick Calathes 2009 Minnesota 2nd 45
Gator NBA Draftees by Round
Round Selections
1 10
2 8
3 2
4 4
6 1
8 1
9 1
10 2
11 1
12 1
Gators in the NBA Draft by Team
Team Selections
New York 4
Milwaukee 3
Minnesota 3
Chicago 2
Los Angeles 2
New Jersey 2
Phoenix 2
San Antonio 2
Atlanta 1
Minneapolis (Lakers) 1
Seattle 1
Denver 1
Boston 1
Denver 1
Golden State 1
Sacramento 1
Orlando 1
Portland 1
Philadelphia 1
Gators in the NBA Draft by Overall Selection
Player Year Team Round Overall
Neal Walk 1969 Phoenix 1 2
Al Horford 2007 Atlanta 1 3
Mike Miller 2000 Orlando 1 5
Jason Williams 1998 Sacramento 1 7
Corey Brewer 2007 Minnesota 1 7
Joakim Noah 2007 Chicago 1 9
Marreese Speights 2008 Philadelphia 1 16
Donnell Harvey 2000 New York 1 22
Dwayne Schintzius 1990 San Antonio 1 24
Cliff Luyk 1962 New York 4 29
David Lee 2005 New York 1 30
Brooks Henderson 1965 Los Angeles 4 33
Andrew DeClercq 1995 Golden State 2 34
Chris Richard 2007 Minnesota 2 41
Matt Bonner 2003 Chicago 2 45
Nick Calathes 2009 Minnesota 2 45
Vernon Maxwell 1988 Denver 2 47
Ronnie Williams 1984 Boston 2 48
Christian Drejer 2004 New Jersey 2 51
Taurean Green 2007 Portland 2 52
Gary Keller 1967 Los Angeles 6 59
Joe Hobbs 1958 Minneapolis 9 63
Vernon Delancy 1984 Milwaukee 3 67
Eugene McDowell 1985 Milwaukee 3 68
Andrew Moten 1987 New Jersey 4 72
Malcom Cesare 1979 Phoenix 4 86
David Miller 1968 Milwaukee 12 159
Eugene Shy 1976 New York 10 163
Len Sanders 1977 Denver 8 169
Andy Owens 1970 Seattle 11 174
Larry Brewster 1978 San Antonio 10 201
