Kansas Center Aldrich Drafted by New Orleans

June 24, 2010

NBA Draft Quotes

NEW YORK –

Kansas junior center Cole Aldrich became the first Jayhawk selected in the 2010 NBA Draft, when the New Orleans Hornets took him with the 11th overall pick Thursday evening at Madison Square Garden.

Aldrich becomes the highest drafted Jayhawk since Kirk Hinrich was selected seventh overall by Chicago in 2003. He will join former Jayhawk Julian Wright who was selected by the Hornets in the 2007 draft.

Aldrich, a 6-foot-11 center from Bloomington, Minn., concluded his Kansas career second on the KU blocked shots list with 253 (Greg Ostertag 258 from 1992-95), ninth on the KU rebounds list with 860, tied for fifth with Nick Collison (2000-03) on the KU double-doubles list with 37 and 46th on the KU scoring list with 1,038 points.

As a junior in 2009-10, Aldrich was named the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and was KU’s first academic All-American since Ryan Robertson in 1999. A 2010 Consensus All-America Second Team selection, Aldrich shattered the Kansas school blocked shots record with 125 and was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, a title he shared in 2009. An Academic All-Big 12 selection for the second straight year, Aldrich’s 354 rebounds in 2009-10 ranked eighth on the KU single-season list. His 15 double-doubles his junior campaign tied for eighth best along with current assistant coach Danny Manning’s 15 in 1988.

As a sophomore, Aldrich took over the middle for Kansas and was one of only three players in the Big 12 to average a double-double with 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds. He recorded the first official triple-double in Kansas men’s basketball history with 13 points, 20 rebounds and a school-record 10 blocked shots in the NCAA Tournament second round against Dayton.

As a freshman, Aldrich appeared in all 40 games of Kansas’ NCAA National Championship season. He averaged 8.3 minutes per game playing behind the post-play tutelage of NBA Draft picks Arthur, Jackson and Kaun.

Kansas freshman Xavier Henry and senior Sherron Collins are still waiting to have their names called at the draft Thursday night.