KU Sports Information
Kansas basketball players Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris and Josh Selby were all selected in the 2011 NBA Draft on Thursday evening at the Prudential Center. Markieff was selected 13th overall to the Phoenix Suns, Marcus was selected 14th overall to the Houston Rockets and Selby was selected 49th overall to the Memphis Grizzlies.
For only the second time in Kansas basketball history, three or more players have been chosen in the first two rounds of the draft. The only previous year was 2008 when a record five Jayhawks were selected. In this year’s draft, Kansas was the only school with two players as lottery picks and was tied with Duke and Texas with 3 players selected in total.
For the second-straight year two Jayhawks went back-to-back in the lottery when Markieff and Marcus were selected with the 13th and 14th picks. The twins’ selection now means that Head Coach Bill Self has now coached six Jayhawks in the last five years that have gone on to be lottery picks. (The Morris brothers in 2011, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry in 2010, Brandon Rush in 2008 and Julian Wright in 2001).
“I just told my brother that these are the two places we both wanted to end up at,” Marcus said following his selection. “If we weren’t going to be together I wanted to be a Houston Rocket. The first time I worked out for them I got a great vibe and they told me how much they wanted me.”
Thursday also marked the fourth time since 1998 the two Jayhawks were taken in the lottery (Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce in 1998, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison in 2003, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry in 2010, and the Morris twins in 2011), no other school has had two or more players selected in the lottery in the past 14 seasons more than Kansas.
“I was happy when I heard it because it fits my playing style and it’s a place I definitely want to be,” said Markieff of playing for the Phoenix Suns.
The Morris’ and Selby are the 72nd, 73rd and 74th players from Kansas to be selected in the NBA Draft. With the trio’s selection, the Jayhawks have now had at least one player picked in seven of the last 10 drafts.
Markieff, a 6-foot-9 forward from Philadelphia, Pa., was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 13th pick. Markieff is now the third Kansas player to be drafted with the 13th overall pick since 1990. Julian Wright was selected by the New Orleans Hornets at 13 in 2007 and Brandon Rush was taken at 13 by the Indiana Pacers in 2008.
“It’s definitely going to be weird, but we’re growing up,” Marcus explained of playing on a different team than his brother for the first time. “We’re grown men. I just told him that I am proud of him and I’m happy he got to go where he wanted. He’s my best friend and I want him to do well.”
Selby, who played just one season at Kansas, is only the second freshman in Kansas history to be selected in the draft. Last year, Xavier Henry was the first when he was taken 12th overall, also by the Memphis Grizzlies.