Six Canadians Chosen in 2019 NBA Draft
The 2019 NBA Draft will go down as a momentous one in Canadian basketball history, with a record number of players from Canada selected.
It came as no surprise to anyone that high school sensation and one-year Duke Blue Devil Zion Williamson was chosen first overall, with the New Orleans Pelicans the team with the honour of adding him to their roster. However, there were still fifty-nine other vacancies to be filled, and six of them were taken by Canadian players.
This is the highest number of Canadian players taken in a single draft. Coupled with the Toronto Raptors' recent NBA championship victory, this seems to be suggesting Canada is starting to be taken seriously as a country whose basketball talent can rank among the world's best.
The six Canadian NBA draftees:
RJ Barrett
6'7 Swingman from Toronto, Ontario
Third Overall Pick, Chosen by New York Knicks
Barrett was a five-star high school recruit while playing with Montverde Academy in Florida, where he won the Naismith Prep Player of the Year award in his senior year. He then reached the East Regional final of the NCAA Division 1 tournament with the Duke Blue Devils before declaring for the 2019 Draft.
Internationally, Barrett was named MVP of the 2017 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, where Canada were tournament champions, and he has also made appearances for the senior international team.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
6'5 Guard from Toronto
Seventeenth Overall Pick, Chosen by New Orleans Pelicans
Alexander-Walker followed his former Hamilton Heights team mate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in being taken as a first-round pick in the NBA Draft. After graduating from Hamilton Heights, he played two years with the Virginia Tech Hokies, reaching the NCAA Division 1 tournament both times. He also won a silver medal with Canada at the FIBA Americas Under-16 championship in 2016.
Brandon Clarke
6'8 Forward from Vancouver, BC
Twenty-First Overall Pick, Chosen by Oklahoma City Thunder (Traded to Memphis Grizzlies)
After winning the Arizona state championship with Desert Vista High in Phoenix, Clarke was recruited to the San Jose State Spartans, where he was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the conference first team and defensive team in his rookie year.
He played his final year in the NCAA with the Gonzaga Bulldogs, again winning DPOY as well as Newcomer and All-American third team honours. Broke team and league records in his year with Gonzaga.
Mfiondu Kabengele
6'10 Forward from Burlington, Ontario
Twenty-Seventh Overall Pick, Chosen by Brooklyn Nets (Traded to Los Angeles Clippers)
Kabengele's basketball journey began when he won the Catholic Cup Final in his senior year with Corpus Christi High in Burlington, Ontario. He then moved on to the Bosco Institute in Crown Point, Indiana, before making the move to the NCAA, joining the Florida State Seminoles.
As a sophomore he finished in the league's top ten in rebounding and blocks per game, as well as winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Sixth Man of the Year award and appearing in the NCAA tournament twice.
Ignas Brazdeikis
6'7 Forward from Oakville, Ontario
Forty-Seventh Overall Pick, Chosen by Sacramento Kings (Traded to New York)
The only pick to play his entire high school career in Canada – specifically Orangeville Prep in Mono, where he was mentored by Nik Stauskas and won the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association in 2017 and was named MVP as both a junior and senior.
Recruited to the Michigan Wolverines, he was named Big Ten conference Freshman of the Year and led the team to the regional semi-finals of the 2019 NCAA Division 1 tournament.
Marial Shayok
6'6 Guard from Ottawa, Ontario
Fifty-Fourth Overall Pick, Chosen by Philadelphia 76ers
After graduating from Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, Shayok joined the Virginia Cavaliers, whom he helped lead to the NCAA tournament second round in 2016.
For his senior year he joined the Iowa State Cyclones, where he put up his career-best averages, won the MVP honours of the Big 12 Tournament and was named to the conference first team.
Picture: Julio Cortez
