Former Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears among 13 invited to NBA Draft, per report
Former Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears among 13 invited to NBA Draft, per report
Former Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears received an invitation to attend the NBA Draft in person on Tuesday, according to a report from ESPN.
Fears was among 13 of the most highly projected picks who received the invitation to the draft green room. The green room is an area in front of the dais where players can sit with their family and friends while waiting to hear their name called.
Projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, formerly of Duke, headlined the list. Other invited players include Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey from Rutgers, VJ Edgecombe from Baylor, and former Texas guard Tre Johnson, among others. In the latest mock draft from USA TODAY Sports, those are the only five players projected to be selected in front of Fears, who is slotted to go in pick No. 6 to the Washington Wizards.
The league is expected to send 11 more invitations at a later date, according to the report.
Fears, who jumped a classification in order to play college basketball when his age would have dictated he be a senior in high school, spent just one year at Oklahoma. It was an awfully good year as the 18-year-old averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists to lead the Sooners to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years.
The last Oklahoma basketball player taken in the NBA Draft was Norman native Trae Young. Young was selected with the No. 5 pick in 2018 by the Dallas Mavericks, who traded him almost immediately to the Atlanta Hawks for the rights to Luka Doncic.
Fears would become the fifth former Sooners basketball player to be taken in the first round if he is selected. He would join Young, Buddy Hield (2016), Blake Griffin (2009) and Ryan Humphrey (2002). Griffin was selected No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.
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