{"id":320217,"date":"2026-06-26T02:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/320217\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T02:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:47:07","slug":"orlando-magic-selects-usf-mens-basketball-izaiyah-nelson-in-the-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/320217\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic selects USF men\u2019s basketball Izaiyah Nelson in the NBA draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>Izaiyah Nelson makes it 10 total draftees in program history for USF men\u2019s basketball. ORACLE PHOTO \/ JEANELLE HENDERSON<\/p>\n

Surrounded by family and friends, USF senior forward Izaiyah Nelson<\/a>\u2019s NBA dream came true Wednesday night when he was selected 51st overall to the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n

Originally drafted to the Washington Wizards, Nelson\u2019s rights were traded to Orlando in a three-team draft-night deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Magic acquired the No. 51 pick and cash considerations while sending the No. 46<\/a> pick to Washington and the No. 60<\/a> pick to the Milwaukee Bucks.<\/p>\n

Nelson is the first USF player to be drafted since Dominique Jones \u2014 taken 25th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies before trading him to the Dallas Mavericks \u2014 in 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nelson said the way USF embraced him made his lone season in Tampa feel special before the NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSF made a humongous impact on me,\u201d he said to USF Athletics. \u201cThey treated me like I was one of their own, like I\u2019ve been here all four years. What more can you ask from a school?\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s Jevin Relaford reflects on college ball in preparation for MLB draft<\/a><\/p>\n

Nelson\u2019s path to the NBA included stops at showcase events during the pre-draft process in May and June.<\/p>\n

He first participated at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where 64 college seniors competed for invitations to the NBA Draft Combine. His performance<\/a> earned him a spot at the combine in Chicago.<\/p>\n

At the combine, Nelson measured 6-foot-8.25, 219 pounds without shoes and showcased his athleticism through on-court drills and scrimmages, helping solidify his status as a second-round prospect.<\/p>\n

He posted a max vertical jump of 38.5 inches, which ranked second-best<\/a> to Flory Bidunga\u2019s 40.5 inches out of the 16 centers at the combine.<\/p>\n

While his athletic testing caught the attention of NBA teams, Nelson said he is continuing to focus on expanding his offensive game through training during the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m working on my three-point and ball handling,\u201d Nelson said<\/a> in a video on X. \u201cOnce I get that, I\u2019ve got the whole package. Nobody can stop me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The showing earned him pre-draft workouts with teams including the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors, according to HoopsMatic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related: Florida BOG college athletics task force weighs agent regulation, collective bargaining<\/a><\/p>\n

Nelson\u2019s rise came from a breakout season with the Bulls after transferring from Arkansas State University in March 2025.<\/p>\n

He averaged 15.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.6 steals per game while leading USF to American Conference regular-season and tournament championships and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012.<\/p>\n

He also became the first player in conference history to sweep the conference\u2019s three major individual awards<\/a> in the same season \u2014 earning Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of last season, Nelson said former Bulls basketball head coach Bryan Hodgson\u2019s belief in him is a key reason he even has the chance to reach the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce he told me that I can get to the league, but I\u2019m not league ready, I decided to put my head down and grind,\u201d Nelson said<\/a>. \u201cAnd we\u2019re here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hodgson hosted Nelson at his home on draft night and has coached him three of the last four seasons between Arkansas State and USF, said the draft is life-changing for Nelson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching Zai\u2019s journey has been incredible,\u201d Hodgson said in a post on X<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of the man he\u2019s become. His best basketball is still in front of him, and the Orlando Magic got a great one on and off the court.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Izaiyah Nelson makes it 10 total draftees in program history for USF men\u2019s basketball. ORACLE PHOTO \/ JEANELLE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-320217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}