Mountaineer Minute: Javon Small Drafted by Memphis
FARRELL TELLS US WHERE HE’S HEADING IN TONIGHT’S MOUNTAINEER MINUTE. NICK FARRELL: IN HIS LONE SEASON AT W-V- U….JAVON SMALL PROVED HE’S A BIG-TIME PLAYER. THE MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES TOOK NOTE…AND MADE SMALL THE 48TH OVERALL PICK IN THE N-B-A DRAFT. WITH HIS SELECTION LAST NIGHT…SMALL BECAME WEST VIRGINIA’S THIRD N-B-A DRAFT PICK SINCE 2018….AND THE SIXTH SINCE 2008. BUT UNLIKE CURRENT PROS JEVON CARTER AND DEUCE MCBRIDE…SMALL TAKES A DIFFERENT PATH TO THE N-B-A…AND MIGHT BE A TREND-SETTER FOR THE FUTURE. THE TRANSFER PORTAL ERA….T THE TRANSFER PORTAL ERA….TO PLAY ONE SEASON AT W-V-U…LEVEL UP HIS GAME…AND EARN A DRAFT SELECTION. STILL…THURSDAY’S DRAFT NEWS MEANS A UNIQUE TREND CONTINUES AT W-V- U….WHICH IS ONE OF JUST SEVEN DIVISION-1 SCHOOLS TO PRODUCE AT LEAST ONE DRAFT PICK IN THE N-F-L, N-B-A AND W-N-B-A DRAFTS THIS YEAR. SMALL…COMPLETED THAT UNIQUE TRIFECTA LAST NIGHT…FOR THE THIRD TIME SINCE 2018. THAT’S RIGHT…EACH OF THE LAST THREE TIMES A MOUNTAINEER HAS GONE IN THE N-B-A DRAFT…OTHER MOUNTAINEERS WERE PICKED BY N-F-L AND W- N-B-A TEAMS. IN 2018…KYZIR WHITE, JEVON CARTER AND TEANA MULDROW WERE ALL DRAFTED. IT HAPPENED AGAIN IN 2021….WHEN TONY FIELDS, DEUCE MCBRIDE AND KYZRE GONDRZICK ALL HEARD THEIR NAMES CALLED IN THEIR RESPECTIVE DRAFTS. THAT’S THE LATEST ON THE MOUNTAINEERS….IN MORGANTOWN…I’M NF.”
In this Mountaineer Minute, Nick Farrell details the Memphis Grizzlies’ selection of Javon Small in the NBA Draft and an interesting draft trend for WVU athletics.
