The history of Florida players taken in the NBA draft is filled with recent first-round draft picks and some legends of eras past.
But for Gator basketball, the NBA draft has never been as fruitful as the one expected Thursday night.
Florida has never had more than two players taken in the same draft. On Thursday, three could potentially get picked among the first 10 selections.
Granted, they're in different leagues and play different sports, but the NBA's Hawks and NFL's Lions have followed similar paths the past few seasons. Both teams have been awful recently, and both continue to make experts and fans alike scratch their heads with their high draft picks.
For the Lions, the recent NFL drafts have been mostly about taking wide receivers: Roy Williams, Mike Williams and Charles Rogers have all been selected high in the first round in the past few years.
During the same time, the Hawks have focused their NBA drafts on small forwards or power forwards: Shelden Williams, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith and Josh Childress make up the Hawks' forward rotation, and all were taken early in the first round.
The last time Al Horford and Mike Conley Jr. were in competition against each other, it was for college basketball's national championship.
Horford helped the Florida Gators beat Conley's Ohio State Buckeyes in April's title game. On Monday, each tried to show during individual workouts that he was worthy of being chosen third by the Atlanta Hawks in the upcoming NBA draft.
"It definitely seems like we are competing again," Conley said. "We're going for the highest spot we can possibly achieve in the draft."
Before the emergence of Joakim Noah and Al Horford, before David Lee and Udonis Haslem and even Dwayne Schintzius, Neal Walk set the standard as the dominant big man in Florida basketball history.
It remains a difficult standard to reach. Walk still holds school records for career scoring average (20.8 per game), career rebounds (1,181) and career rebounding average (15.3).
Because Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are likely to go first and second in Thursday's NBA draft, Walk will almost assuredly hold his status as the highest drafted Gator in school history. Walk was taken second overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 1969 draft.
The Atlanta Hawks displayed a new look on Monday. The organization unveiled new uniforms and color changes to its primary and secondary logos.
"A great deal of planning and collaboration went into the creation of this classic yet sleek, modern design," team president Bernie Mullin said. "We engaged our players early in the process and they are very excited about the look and feel of the new uniforms. The color scheme harkens back to the St. Louis Hawks and early years of the Hawks in Atlanta."
While in St. Louis, the team colors were red, white and blue.
Player profile: Al Horford (original) - 6/25/2007
Who will be top Gator taken in NBA draft? (original) - 6/25/2007
3 gems top list, but depth lacking (original) - 6/25/2007
Athleticism still trumps the basics (original) - 6/25/2007
Big unknown of NBA draft is No. 3 pick (original) - 6/25/2007
China's Yi brings wow factor to NBA draft (original) - 6/25/2007
In the NBA draft, no one is a slam dunk (original) - 6/24/2007
Return of the King (original) - 6/24/2007
Scouting the NBA draft: Point Guards (original) - 6/24/2007
Walk likes Gators' prospects (original) - 6/24/2007
Blogs related to Atlanta Hawks:
Boston Celtics, Sports, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, NBA Draft
