Former Oregon basketball player Bryan Bracey has turned in his green and yellow jersey for the black and silver of the San Antonio Spurs.
Bracey was chosen 58th overall by the Spurs, who made him the last pick of the 2001 NBA Draft Wednesday night. That tagged him “Mr. Irrelevant” of this year’s draft.
Bracey was the first Oregon player drafted since Terrell Brandon was chosen in the first round in 1991. Bracey was the eighth Oregon player ever to be drafted in the first two rounds.
The forward from Chicago had individual workouts with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors, among other teams, but he was never contacted by the Spurs.
Oregon’s offensive star last year, Bracey led the team in many offensive categories. He led the team in points and rebounding, and was named the team’s MVP at its awards banquet in April.
Bracey also made his presence felt around the Pacific-10 Conference last season. He was named an All-Pac-10 Team first selection, finished second in the league in scoring and seventh in rebounding. He led the league in preseason scoring but was overtaken by eventual scoring champion Sean Lampley of California early in the Pac-10 slate of games.
San Antonio currently has five forwards on its roster, including superstar Sean Elliot. The other Spurs forwards are Danny Ferry, Malik Rose, Samaki Walker and Ira Newble.
Bracey was drafted before Gonzaga forward Casey Calvary, Michigan State guard Charlie Bell and George Washington’s SirValiant Brown, who all made big impacts at this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Bracey was one of several Pac-10 players selected in the draft. The highest Pac-10 player drafted was Arizona’s Richard Jefferson, by Houston. The Rockets also selected Stanford’s Jason Collins with the 18th pick. Jefferson and Collins were the only Pac-10 players drafted in the first round.
Jason Collins’ brother, Jarron, was chosen in the second round by Utah. Other Pac-10 second-round picks included Arizona’s Gilbert Arenas (31st overall), Southern California’s Brian Scalabrine (35th) and Jeff Trepagnier (36th), Arizona’s Michael Wright (39th), UCLA’s Earl Watson (40th), Lampley (45th) and Arizona’s Loren Woods (46th).
Bracey chosen by Spurs with last pick of NBA draft
Daily Emerald
July 2, 2001
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