The Florida Gators, after a tough 2014-15 season that was one of the worst in program history under former head coach Billy Donovan, did not have either of its two eligible underclassmen selected on Thursday in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Neither junior guard Michael Frazier II nor sophomore forward/center Chris Walker heard his name called in Brooklyn.
Frazier was considered a potential second-round selection and should be a top target among undrafted free agents, while Walker was never projected to be drafted.
It is the second straight year that the Gators did not have a player picked in the two-round event, continuing the end of a three-year streak of seeing at least one Florida player get drafted from 2011-13.
A total of 35 former Gators have been selected in the history of the event. UF has only had one first-round pick (Bradley Beal, No. 3 overall, 2012) in the last seven drafts after seeing five go in the first 30 picks during a four-year span from 2005-08.
Tough for Chris and Michael but hopefully a wake-up call for future players who have themselves over-rated. Get your degree, man.
Walker didn’t get drafted? Shocking.
This is why the (proposed?) new rule will benefit these kids and us as college basketball fans. Putting aside the potentially extenuating circumstances this year with the coaching change, I have to believe that 1 or both would have opted out of the draft after hearing what scouts had to say.
Amazing that he still left early when no one projected him to be drafted. Maybe he didn’t hire an agent and can go back to school, if not UF, at least somewhere