Roundup: Jaylen Brown is a top-3 pick
Five Pac-12 players were selected in the 2016 NBA Draft, and it started off with Cal’s Jaylen Brown going to Boston at No. 3. He is the 10th Golden Bear to be drafted in the first round and the first since Ryan Anderson went 21st to New Orleans in 2008. Also, Tyrone Wallace was the last pick of the draft, going to the Utah Jazz. The last Mr. Irrelevant out of the Pac-12 was Isaiah Thomas, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Marquese Chriss went five picks after Brown to the Kings at No. 8 and was subsequently traded to the Phoenix Suns, while Dejounte Murray went 29th to San Antonio. Two Dawgs in the first round; not bad. All Lorenzo Romar does is send guys to the pros (not a bad draft for Phoenix, either).
Meanwhile, Jakob Poeltl was reunited with Delon Wright in Toronto when the Raptors took the Austrian big man with the No. 9 pick.
He wasn’t drafted, but Gary Payton II signed a 3-year deal with the Houston Rockets after the draft. I imagine that’s a non-guaranteed deal, but still, not a bad landing spot.
CougCenter informs us of Marc Stein’s report that Klay Thompson will play for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics. Coach K could certainly use his shooting.
Josh Scott didn’t get drafted, but here’s some good news for Buffs fans – Colorado basketball forward Xavier Johnson is “about 90 percent” in his comeback from a torn Achilles.
Thuc Nhi Nguyen points out that this is just the third time since 1997 that no Bruins were taken in the NBA Draft. ‘Twasn’t much of a surprise this year, as Tony Parker was the only player eligible to be drafted.
Mitch Sherman of ESPN writes that Arizona has found the formula for survival at the College World Series. The Wildcats are one of four teams still alive and needs to beat Oklahoma State twice to advance to the CWS finals (first game is Friday at noon PT/1 p.m. MT on ESPN2). TCU and Coastal Carolina are on the other side of the Omaha bracket.
Scott Wolf reports that former Minnesota forward Charles Buggs will transfer to USC men’s basketball. As a graduate transfer, he will be able to play immediately and gives the Trojans their 10th scholarship player for 2016-17.
Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame member Jeff Kostoff has joined Stanford men’s swimming as an assistant coach. He was previously an assistant at Indiana.
Ted Miller tells us about the former Oregon defensive linemen looking to make a mark in the NFL – most notably DeForest Buckner and Dion Jordan.
Kevin Gemmell takes a look at the best player for Arizona State at each level of the defense – DL JoJo Wicker, LB Salamo Fiso and DB Kareem Orr.