THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s Josh Okogie’s path to becoming an NBA player began with a declaration in mid-March that he would test the waters by entering his name in the NBA Draft, then made that declaration final on May 21. Thursday night, Okogie will get one step closer to realizing that dream when the NBA holds its annual draft at the Barclays Center beginning at 7 p.m. (ESPN).
The 6-4 guard from Snellville, Ga., who earned third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 2017-18 and made the conference all-freshman team in 2016-17, made a huge impression on team officials at the NBA Combine in May, and has since worked out for more than a dozen teams in preparation for the draft. Many draft projections now have him as a potential, if not likely, first-round selection, generally projected to be taken among the latter 10 picks of the first round. Tech’s last first-round selection was Iman Shumpert, who was made the 17th overall selection by the New York Knicks in 2011.
“Josh is a tremendous young man and an excellent student-athlete,” said Tech head coach Josh Pastner. “He has set a tremendous example, making the Dean’s List this past semester, and deserves a lot of credit for making himself a much better player over the course of his two years here.”
Okogie ranked fourth in the ACC at 18.2 points per game as a sophomore, and averaged 16.9 points over his two seasons with the Yellow Jackets. He surpassed 1,000 career points, one of six Tech players ever to do so before the end of their sophomore years.
Okogie is the 12th Georgia Tech player to become an early entry into the NBA Draft.
His teammate, senior center Ben Lammers, has also worked out for a number of teams but is not projected to be selected in either the first or second rounds. Should he slip into the second round, he and Okogie would be the first Yellow Jacket teammates selected since 2010 (Derrick Favors, third overall pick to New Jersey, and Gani Lawal, second round to Phoenix).