STARKVILLE — For the first time in 16 years, Mississippi State University produced a first round pick in the 2012 National Basketball Association draft.
Less than month after the Miami Heat won the NBA championship, they selected the Bulldogs 6-foot-11 forward with the 27th overall selection in the draft. Just as soon as the pick was made, multiple reports surfaced that the Heat would be trading Arnett Moultrie to the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 45 overall pick and a future first-rounder with a year to be determined later.
“I thought Moultrie would be a right fit but they’re a championship team and they’ll be just fine coming back next season without Arnett Moultrie,” ESPN analyst Chris Broussard said on Thursday’s draft broadcast.
Moultrie, who surprised few by giving up his final year of eligibility with the Bulldogs program, became the first MSU product taken in the first round since the combination of Erick Dampier and Dontae Jones were selected 10th and 21st respectively.
MSU also became the only college with three first-round draft picks in each major sport this school year. Moultrie joins National Football League first-rounder Fletcher Cox and Major League Baseball first-rounder Chris Stratton.
“He really improved his skill set in the year he sat out as a transfer (from the University of Texas-El Paso,” ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said after Moultrie was drafted.
Multiple texts and phone calls to Moultrie Thursday evening were not returned.
According to the NBA collective bargaining agreement, the 27th pick is slotted at $868,600, and Moultrie can make between 80 and 120 percent of that number. Philadelphia went 35-31 in a lockout-shortened season and lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The last MSU player to be drafted was Jarvis Varnado when college basketball’s all-time leader in blocked shots was selected by Miami in the second round during the 2010 draft.
Moultrie led the Southeastern Conference in rebounding this season at 10.5 per game but puzzled a lot of player personnel executives by declining the physical workouts at the Chicago pre-draft camp earlier this month beginning rumors that he and his agent Derek Lafayette were given a promise by the Detroit Pistons franchise that he would be their choice at No. 9 overall in this draft.
It is perceived the declining to workout in the combine and a physical concerns about Moultrie’s knees along with some bad body language on a MSU team that self destructed down the stretch this past season is what contributed to the Bulldogs forward’s draft fall.
“(The NBA teams) have all told me I have lottery talent but it all depends on how I perform at these workouts,” Moultrie told Oregonlive.com after a workout with the Trail Blazers organization on June 16.
Moultrie, who was projected as a lottery pick before the start of the 2011-12 college season, was one of eight picks out of the Southeastern Conference Thursday night.
The University of Kentucky earned the first two picks of the draft with center Anthony Davis and guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist going to New Orleans and Charlotte. For the first time since 1986, one conference achieved the first three picks in the NBA draft when Washington selected Florida freshman guard Bradley Beal. The Houston Rockers would select Kentucky forward Terrance Jones with the 18th pick and UK would complete the night with the fourth first round pick when Marquis Teague went to Chicago at No. 29. For the first time in school history, Vanderbilt had two first round selections with guard John Jenkins (23rd to Atlanta) and Festus Ezeli (30th to Golden State) were picked.
Once Denver selected French guard Evan Fournier with the 20th overall selection, questions began to formulate as to when and even if Moultrie would be drafted in the first round.
“I’m definitely the sleeper of the draft,” Moultrie said to mlive.com. “But that’s fine, they can sleep on me. I’ve been a sleeper all my life.”
Mississippi State’s other two draft-eligible prospects (guard Dee Bost and center Renardo Sidney) went undrafted Thursday night and will begin to field possible opportunities either for summer league invitations or overseas.
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