By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Keyonte George's mission to become a refined No. 1 draft choice following his only year at Baylor became fulfilled Thursday night.
Midway through the NBA draft, the Utah Jazz used the 16th overall selection on the 6-4 combo guard from Lewisville.
This selection fell right in line with ESPN's mock draft early Thursday morning that project George to go to the Jazz. George becomes the 12 pick from Scott Drew's program since 2010. The Bears also have the most draft selections of any Texas collegiate program since 2012.
And there's something about Baylor and the Jazz. Guard Jared Butler went in the second round to Utah in 2021.
George was the second-leading scorer for Baylor in 2022-23 when he averaged 15.3 points per game. There were games where it was easy to see where he would be selected. He took over games down the stretch against West Virginia and Arkansas.
However, a tough ankle injury limited him down the stretch denying the kind of finish he and his teammates had envisioned.
George is considered a shot maker with room to grow on the defensive end.
He should have an opportunity to play right away for the Jazz, which finished 37-45 and missed the NBA playoffs.
BAYLOR NBA DRAFT HISTORY
YEAR NAMES, POS. RD PICK TEAM
1949 James Owens, G/F 2 21 Washington
1950 Don Heathington, F/C 9 - New York
1957 Jerry Mallett, G 4 31 Syracuse
1965 Spencer Carlson, F 10 79 St. Louis
1967 Darrell Hardy, C 3 21 Detroit
1971 William Chatmon, F 15 218 Buffalo
1979 Vinnie Johnson, G 1 7 Seattle
1982 Terry Teagle, G 1 16 Houston
1986 Carlos Briggs, G 4 79 San Antonio
1988 Micheal Williams, G 2 48 Detroit
1988 Darryl Middleton, F/C 3 68 Atlanta
1993 Alex Holcombe, C 2 44 Sacramento
1998 Brian Skinner, F/C 1 22 L.A. Clippers
2010 Ekpe Udoh, F/C 1 6 Golden State
2012 Perry Jones III, F 1 28 Oklahoma City
2012 Quincy Acy, F 2 37 Toronto
2012 Quincy Miller, F 2 38 Denver
2013 Pierre Jackson, G 2 42 Philadelphia
2014 Cory Jefferson, F 2 60 San Antonio
2016 Taurean Prince, F 1 12 Utah
2021 Davion Mitchell, G 1 9 Sacramento
2021 Jared Butler, G 2 40 New Orleans
2022 Jeremy Sochan, F 1 9 San Antonio
2022 Kendall Brown, F/G 2 48 Minnesota
2023 Keyonte George, G 1 16 Utah
Publisher
Keyonte George's mission to become a refined No. 1 draft choice following his only year at Baylor became fulfilled Thursday night.
Midway through the NBA draft, the Utah Jazz used the 16th overall selection on the 6-4 combo guard from Lewisville.
This selection fell right in line with ESPN's mock draft early Thursday morning that project George to go to the Jazz. George becomes the 12 pick from Scott Drew's program since 2010. The Bears also have the most draft selections of any Texas collegiate program since 2012.
And there's something about Baylor and the Jazz. Guard Jared Butler went in the second round to Utah in 2021.
George was the second-leading scorer for Baylor in 2022-23 when he averaged 15.3 points per game. There were games where it was easy to see where he would be selected. He took over games down the stretch against West Virginia and Arkansas.
However, a tough ankle injury limited him down the stretch denying the kind of finish he and his teammates had envisioned.
George is considered a shot maker with room to grow on the defensive end.
He should have an opportunity to play right away for the Jazz, which finished 37-45 and missed the NBA playoffs.
BAYLOR NBA DRAFT HISTORY
YEAR NAMES, POS. RD PICK TEAM
1949 James Owens, G/F 2 21 Washington
1950 Don Heathington, F/C 9 - New York
1957 Jerry Mallett, G 4 31 Syracuse
1965 Spencer Carlson, F 10 79 St. Louis
1967 Darrell Hardy, C 3 21 Detroit
1971 William Chatmon, F 15 218 Buffalo
1979 Vinnie Johnson, G 1 7 Seattle
1982 Terry Teagle, G 1 16 Houston
1986 Carlos Briggs, G 4 79 San Antonio
1988 Micheal Williams, G 2 48 Detroit
1988 Darryl Middleton, F/C 3 68 Atlanta
1993 Alex Holcombe, C 2 44 Sacramento
1998 Brian Skinner, F/C 1 22 L.A. Clippers
2010 Ekpe Udoh, F/C 1 6 Golden State
2012 Perry Jones III, F 1 28 Oklahoma City
2012 Quincy Acy, F 2 37 Toronto
2012 Quincy Miller, F 2 38 Denver
2013 Pierre Jackson, G 2 42 Philadelphia
2014 Cory Jefferson, F 2 60 San Antonio
2016 Taurean Prince, F 1 12 Utah
2021 Davion Mitchell, G 1 9 Sacramento
2021 Jared Butler, G 2 40 New Orleans
2022 Jeremy Sochan, F 1 9 San Antonio
2022 Kendall Brown, F/G 2 48 Minnesota
2023 Keyonte George, G 1 16 Utah
