It was the draft of a lifetime for the St. John’s basketball program as Bryce Hopkins was selected as the No. 49 overall pick in the NBA Draft on Wednesday night by the Denver Nuggets.
He joined Zuby Ejiofor (No. 23 overall) and Dillon Mitchell (No. 40 overall) to be selected in this year’s draft and it’s the first time the Johnnies have seen three of its players picked in the modern draft era.
The last time the Red Storm had three players drafted was in 1983, which was a 10-round process.
Hopkins joined St. John’s after previous stops at Kentucky and Providence but rounded back into form late in the season after he missed nearly two full seasons with the Friars due to a knee injury.
He finished the season averaging 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 46.9-percent shooting from the field but really flashed his potential to NBA teams during the postseason where he shot 65-percent (13-for-20) in the Big East and NCAA Tournaments.
He earned a spot on the All-Big East Second Team during his one season with the program.
Like Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell, Bryce Hopkins also had a strong pre-draft process where he was promoted from the NBA G-League Combine to the NBA Draft Combine after his strong performance in the days leading up to the major event.
At the beginning of the process, Hopkins was projected to be undrafted before he started appearing on mock drafts in the lead up to the draft.
Denver’s only other selection in this year’s draft, which also came in the second round, was Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile.
The Nuggets will be trying to contend in a loaded Western Conference next season but Bryce Hopkins will have the chance to try and make the team’s roster coming out of training camp as a cost efficient playmaker.
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