Three Jayhawks Selected in the 2011 NBA Draft
June 23, 2011
NEWARK, N.J. –
Kansas basketball players Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris and Josh Selby were all selected in the 2011 NBA Draft on Thursday evening at the Prudential Center. Markieff was selected 13th overall to the Phoenix Suns, Marcus was selected 14th overall to the Houston Rockets and Selby was selected 49th overall to the Memphis Grizzlies.
For only the second time in Kansas basketball history, three or more players have been chosen in the first two rounds of the draft. The only previous year was 2008 when a record five Jayhawks were selected. In this year’s draft, Kansas was the only school with two players as lottery picks and was tied with Duke and Texas with 3 players selected in total.
For the second-straight year two Jayhawks went back-to-back in the lottery when Markieff and Marcus were selected with the 13th and 14th picks. The twins’ selection now means that Head Coach Bill Self has now coached six Jayhawks in the last five years that have gone on to be lottery picks. (The Morris brothers in 2011, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry in 2010, Brandon Rush in 2008 and Julian Wright in 2001).
“I just told my brother that these are the two places we both wanted to end up at,” Marcus said following his selection. “If we weren’t going to be together I wanted to be a Houston Rocket. The first time I worked out for them I got a great vibe and they told me how much they wanted me.”
Thursday also marked the fourth time since 1998 the two Jayhawks were taken in the lottery (Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce in 1998, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison in 2003, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry in 2010, and the Morris twins in 2011), no other school has had two or more players selected in the lottery in the past 14 seasons more than Kansas.
“I was happy when I heard it because it fits my playing style and it’s a place I definitely want to be,” said Markieff of playing for the Phoenix Suns.
The Morris’ and Selby are the 72nd, 73rd and 74th players from Kansas to be selected in the NBA Draft. With the trio’s selection, the Jayhawks have now had at least one player picked in seven of the last 10 drafts.
Markieff, a 6-foot-9 forward from Philadelphia, Pa., was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 13th pick. Markieff is now the third Kansas player to be drafted with the 13th overall pick since 1990. Julian Wright was selected by the New Orleans Hornets at 13 in 2007 and Brandon Rush was taken at 13 by the Indiana Pacers in 2008.
“It’s definitely going to be weird, but we’re growing up,” Marcus explained of playing on a different team than his brother for the first time. “We’re grown men. I just told him that I am proud of him and I’m happy he got to go where he wanted. He’s my best friend and I want him to do well.”
Selby, who played just one season at Kansas, is only the second freshman in Kansas history to be selected in the draft. Last year, Xavier Henry was the first when he was taken 12th overall, also by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Marcus Morris Bio
Overview: Consensus All-America Second-Team his junior season who was also named the 2011 Big 12 Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team… Most Outstanding Player of the 2011 Big 12 Championship… KU’s top scorer from 2009-11… A three-year starter who has been described as a do-everything type player who can post and handle the ball… One of 20 college players chosen by USA Basketball to train against the USA Men’s National Team in summer 2010… Also spent the 2010 summer attending many big men camps – Amar’e Stoudemire Skills, adidas… Played mainly down low as a freshman and developed better range, including from beyond the arc… A highly-talented player who is a tough match-up with his versatility.
Junior Season (2010-11): A consensus All-America Second-Team selection who played in all 38 games for the Jayhawks, starting all but two… Named as the Big 12 Player of the Year, he was the leading scorer on the team, averaging 17.2 ppg… Scored 654 points on the season, ranking 12th on KU’s all-time single-season scoring chart… Saw the second-most minutes on the team, playing 28.3 per game… Scored a career-high 33 points in a win against Iowa State (1/12), shooting 73.3 percent from the field (7-of-11)… Ranked second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage with a 57 percent clip… Averaged 7.6 rpg by collecting 290 boards over 38 games, a career-high… Notched 10 double-doubles on the season… Scored a career-high 26 three-pointers, hitting 34.2 percent from behind the arc… Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player where he averaged 17.7 ppg and 10.0 rpg in leading KU to the title… Led KU in every statistical category at least once… Hit the most free throws on the team, shooting 68 percent off of 148-of-215 shooting from the charity stripe… Grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds in Kansas’ Elite Eight matchup against VCU (3/27)… Named Big 12 Player of the Week three times (Nov. 29, Jan. 17 and Feb. 14).
Sophomore Season (2009-10): Exploded onto the scene where he was KU’s third-leading scorer with 12.8 ppg and second-leading rebounder at 6.1 rpg… Named the Yahoo Sports! Most Improved player nationally and All-Big 12 Second Team… Averaged 14.2 points per game in Big 12 play, 16th in the league… Also in league play, led the Big 12 with his 56.1 percent shooting from the field, while his 7.3 rebounds tied for ninth… For the season, his 6.1 rpg ranked 14th in the Big 12… Had five 20-point efforts… Had 14 games of eight-plus rebounds… Shot 57 percent from the field and had nine games of 70 percent or better from the field… Recorded six double-doubles with four in Big 12 play… Made 12 three-pointers on the season, including three games with multiple threes… Had a solid Big 12 Championship where he averaged 10.7 ppg and 4.3 rpg… Scored 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting with 10 rebounds against Lehigh (3/18) in the NCAA Tournament first round… Scored 18 points and eight rebounds against No. 9 Kansas State (3/13) in the Big 12 title game… Had 20 points and 11 rebounds versus Nebraska (2/6)… Recorded back-to-back 20-point games with 20 versus Texas Tech (1/16) and 22 against Baylor (1/20)… Scored 23 points with 10 rebounds versus Michigan (12/19)… First double-double of the season came against Oakland with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Freshman Season (2008-09): Started 22 games, including 12 conference contests, and averaged 18.5 minutes per game… Fourth-leading scorer on the team with 7.4 points per game… Had 11 games of 10-plus points… Led the Big 12 freshmen class in rebounding with a 4.7 average… Pulled down five or more rebounds 18 times… Made 50 percent or better from the field in 23 games… Showed his range hitting 40 percent from three-point range… Scored a career-high 15 points at Kansas State (2/14)… Hit two three-pointers against Texas A&M (1/19) en route to scoring 10 points… Was 4-for-5 with 10 points, including his second three-point field goal of the season, at Colorado (1/17)… Connected on his first career three-pointer against Albany (12/30)… Had nine points on 4-of-8 shooting with three steals against Temple (12/20)… Posted second double-double against Kent State (12/1), scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds… Recorded first career double-double versus Syracuse (11/25), scoring 11 points and pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds… Also dished out a career-best six assists against the Orange.
Marcus concluded his Kansas career 25th on the all-time KU scoring list with 1,371 points scored from 2009-11, 16th on the all-time KU rebounds list with 676, ninth on the KU double-doubles list with 19 and 12th on the single-season scoring list with 654 points during the 2010-11 season. Morris concluded his career with a 55.5 field goal percentage, tied for 12th all-time at KU.
Markieff Morris Bio
Markieff finished his career 17th on the KU blocked shots lists with 103 and 18th on the KU rebounding charts with 662. His 13 double-doubles during the 2010-11 season ranks ninth at Kansas. His 316 rebounds during the 2010-11 season puts him 16th on the single-season KU charts. Markieff finished his career with a 55.3 shooting percentage, including shooting 58.9 percent this past season.
Junior Season (2010-11): An All-Big 12 second-Team selection and he played in all 38 games for the Jayhawks, starting all but three contests… Second-leading scorer on the team with a 13.6 ppg average… Led the Big 12 in field goal percentage (58.9) and rebounding at 8.3 boards per game…. His field goal percentage also ranked 12th nationally… Hit a career-high in both points and rebounds in a win against Colorado (2/19), scoring 26 points and grabbing 15 rebounds… Selected to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team after scoring 14.7 ppg and grabbing 7.3 rpg en route to the tourney championship… Scored in double figures in all but seven of KU’s 38 contests… Played a career-high 35 minutes against Michigan (1/9), averaging 24.4 mpg on the season… Shot 42.4 percent from behind the three-point arc (25-of-59)… Shot 90 percent from the field (9-of-10) in a win against Baylor (1/17) in a 19 point scoring effort… Shot 63.2 percent from the field in Big 12 play… Led the conference in double-doubles with 13, the ninth most in KU history… He had 15 games with double-figure rebounds.
Sophomore Season (2009-10): Started the first two games of the season… Averaged 6.8 ppg and 5.3 rpg and played in all 36 games… His 5.3 rpg ranked third on the team… Ranked second on the team in blocked shots with 35… Was 15th in the Big 12 with 1.0 blocked shots per contest… Had 10 games with multiple blocked shots… Shot 56.6 percent for the season and 55.9 percent in league play… Had eight games of 10-plus points, including five in the final 10 games of the season… Pulled down seven-plus rebounds eight times… Made 10 three-pointers for the season… Averaged 9.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg and blocked five shots in the Big 12 Championship…. Was 3-for-4 in scoring 10 points against Northern Iowa (3/20) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament… Was 8-for-11 with 19 points and six rebounds in the Big12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series victory at UCLA (12/6)… Had one double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against LaSalle (12/12)… Also had a career-high four blocked shots and was 5-for-6 from the field against LaSalle… Narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds versus Missouri (1/25).
Freshman Season (2008-09): Appeared in all 35 games with seven starts… Averaged 15.6 minutes, 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest… His 4.4 rebounds were third among Big 12 freshmen… Shot 50 percent or better in 20 games… Pulled down five or more rebounds 13 times… Blocked multiple shots in eight games… Had seven rebounds against Michigan State in the Sweet 16 game of the NCAA Tournament (3/27)… That followed a five-rebound game against Dayton (3/22)… Had six points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots against Missouri (2/9)… Scored a career-high 10 points against Colorado (1/31)… Pulled down eight rebounds and blocked three shots against Siena (1/6)… Dished out a career-high four assists at Arizona (12/23)… Had eight points on 3-of-4 shooting with five rebounds against Temple (12/20), his second start of the season… Scored eight points against New Mexico State (12/3)… Hit his first career three-point shot vs. Syracuse (11/25)… Started first career game against Florida Gulf Coast (11/18), scored six points and pulled down five rebounds… Pulled down 15 rebounds against UMKC (11/16) in the season opener, the most by a Jayhawk since Nick Collison had 21 in the 2003 NCAA Championship game against Syracuse.
Josh Selby
Overview: 2010-11 Preseason Freshman of the Year who was a combo guard and ranked No. 1 in the final Rivals.com rankings for the class of 2010… A five-star rated player who ranked fifth on the ESPNU 100 and the Scout.com final rankings coming out of high school… A 2010 McDonald’s All-American.
Freshman Season (2010-11): Saw action in 26 games for the Jayhawks, earning starts in 11 contests… Averaged 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game… In his first collegiate game, he scored a season-high 21 points, going 5-of-8 from behind the arc, and collected five rebounds… A two-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week (Dec. 20, Jan. 21)… In the 13 games prior to a foot injury, he averaged 12 ppg, 3.2 apg and shot 43.5 percent from three-point land… Went 7-of-12 from the field, scoring 18 points and collecting a season best seven rebounds against Miami-Ohio (1/2)… In a 17-minute appearance againt Sweet 16 foe Richmond, scored nine points after a 3-for-5 shooting performance from behind the arc.
High School: Averaged 32 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals for Lake Clifton Campus in Baltimore in 2009-10… Prior to Lake Clifton he played two seasons of high school basketball at DaMatha High School… Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Player of the Year… Following his senior season at Lake Clifton, Selby scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the McDonald’s All-American game… Won the 2010 McDonald’s All-American slam dunk contest… Also participated in the Jordan Brand Classic.
Kansas NBA First Round Drafts
Clyde Lovellette – 1952
Wilt Chamberlain – 1958
Wayne Hightower – 1961
Walt Wesley – 1966
Jo Jo White – 1969
Bud Stallworth – 1972
Norm Cook – 1976
Darnell Valentine – 1981
Danny Manning – 1988
Mark Randall – 1991
Rex Walters – 1993
Greg Ostertag – 1995
Scot Pollard – 1997
Jacque Vaughn – 1997
Raef LaFrentz – 1998
Paul Pierce – 1998
Drew Gooden – 2002
Nick Collison – 2003
Kirk Hinrich – 2003
Wayne Simien – 2005
Julian Wright – 2007
Brandon Rush – 2008
Darrell Arthur – 2008
Cole Aldrich – 2010
Xavier Henry – 2010
Markieff Morris – 2011
Marcus Morris – 2011
Kansas Overall Draft Selections
Year – name (round)
1948 – Otto Schnellbacher (Providence region)
1952 – Clyde Lovellette (1)
1953 – Dean Kelley (8), Gil Reich (11)
1954 – B.H. Born (3), Alan Kelley (7)
1957 – Maurice King (6)
1958 – Wilt Chamberlain (1)
1959 – Ron Loneski (10)
1961 – Wayne Hightower (1), Bill Bridges (3)
1963 – Nolen Ellison (4)
1966 – Walt Wesley (1), Al Lopes (13)
1967 – Ron Franz (10)
1968 – Roger Bohnesnstiel (9)
1969 – Jo Jo White (1), Dave Nash (4), Bruce Sloan (11)
1971 – Roger Brown (3), Dave Robisch (5), Pierre Russell (13)
1972 – Bud Stallworth (1)
1974 – Ken Koenigs (5)
1975 – Rick Suttle (7), Roger Morningstar (8)
1976 – Norm Cook (1)
1977 – Herb Nobles (6)
1978 – John Douglas (6)
1979 – Paul Mokeski (2), Randolph Carroll (10)
1981 – Darnell Valentine (1), Art Housey (3), John Crawford (7)
1982 – Tony Guy (2), David Magley (2)
1984 – Carl Henry (4), Brian Martin (9)
1986 – Greg Dreiling (2), Ron Kellogg (2), Calvin Thompson (4)
1988 – Danny Manning (1), Archie Marshall (3)
1990 – Kevin Pritchard (2)
1991 – Mark Randall (1)
1993 – Rex Walters (1), Adonis Jordan (2)
1994 – Darrin Hancock (2)
1995 – Greg Ostertag (1)
1997 – Scot Pollard (1), Jacque Vaughn (1)
1998 – Raef LaFrentz (1), Paul Pierce (1)
1999 – Ryan Robertson (2)
2001 – Eric Chenowith (2)
2002 – Drew Gooden (1)
2003 – Nick Collison (1), Kirk Hinrich (1)
2005 – Wayne Simien (1)
2007 – Julian Wright (1)
2008 – Brandon Rush (1), Darrell Arthur (1), Mario Chalmers (2), Darnell Jackson (2), Sasha Kaun (2)
2010 – Cole Aldrich (1), Xavier Henry (1)
2011 – Markieff Morris (1), Marcus Morris (1), Josh Selby (2)
