\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA total of 13 former UofL players have been top 10 picks in the NBA Draft. The last was Samaki Walker, selected No. 9 in 1996. Now 30 years later, Mikel Brown, Jr. is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2026 NBA Draft. The first round begins Tuesday night at 8 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Brown started 19 games and played in 21 in one season at UofL. He averaged 18.2 points per game and led the team with 99 assists. However, he missed 14 games with a back injury and did not suit up for the Cards in the ACC or NCAA Tournaments. “Not, you know, being able to finish out my college career, obviously, I would love to play in the NCAA tournament. That’s another dream of mine that I didn’t really get to accomplish, but just to be a part of it was great for me,” Brown told ESPN. “And, you know, going through this process now, I’m enjoying it. It’s fun. You know, the little kid of me is screaming just to know that you know my name. I’m potentially going to be hearing my name called on Tuesday night, so it’s going to be a dream come true.”UofL head coach Pat Kelsey will not be in New York with Brown. “Kel has a very, very, very close knit family, and you know, there’s there’s only so many spots and so many seats there.” Kelsey said on Monday. The Cards head coach also said that Brown’s accomplishments should not be overlooked. “Although he was only here for one year, I mean, that young man is going to be celebrated and remembered and revered around here for a long, long time,” Kelsey said.”He broke the freshman scoring record in Louisville history. He made 40 something points. He made ten threes. That’s magic. That’s magic. And that’s what that kid has. He’s got an it about him. For the rest of his life when he walks down the street, there should be theme music behind him because he’s got that type of vibe and bounce and and and charm and twinkle in his eye,” Kelsey added. “So I’m well aware of how special of a player I coached. I’ve said many times a more proud of the caliber of special human being that Mikel is. So I’m so proud of him, and I think this city is as well.”Brown tied Wes Unseld single-game school record when he scored 45 points against N.C. State on February 9, also equaling the school record with 10 made three-pointers. He also scored 29 points in a 96-88 win over archrival Kentucky on November 11. Here is the company Brown would join. These are the former UofL players who have been Top 10 picks in the NBA Draft: 1948 No. 3 George Hauptfuhrer Boston Celtics 1952 No. 7 Bob Lochmueller Syracuse Nationals 1957 No. 2 Charlie Tyra Detroit Pistons 1959 No. 8 Don Goldstein Detroit Pistons 1968 No. 2 Wes Unseld Baltimore Bullets 1969 No. 10 Butch Beard Atlanta Hawks 1975 No. 8 Junior Bridgeman Los Angeles Lakers 1980 No. 2 Darrell Griffith Utah Jazz 1983 No. 3 Rodney McCray Houston Rockets 1984 No. 8 Lancaster Gordon Los Angeles Clippers 1989 No. 1 Pervis Ellison Sacramento Kings 1990 No. 6 Felton Spencer Minnesota Timberwolves1996 No. 9 Samaki Walker Dallas Mavericks\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
A total of 13 former UofL players have been top 10 picks in the NBA Draft. <\/p>\n
The last was Samaki Walker, selected No. 9 in 1996. <\/p>\n
Now 30 years later, Mikel Brown, Jr. is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2026 NBA Draft. The first round begins Tuesday night at 8 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. <\/p>\n
Brown started 19 games and played in 21 in one season at UofL. He averaged 18.2 points per game and led the team with 99 assists. However, he missed 14 games with a back injury and did not suit up for the Cards in the ACC or NCAA Tournaments. <\/p>\n
“Not, you know, being able to finish out my college career, obviously, I would love to play in the NCAA tournament. That’s another dream of mine that I didn’t really get to accomplish, but just to be a part of it was great for me,” Brown told ESPN. “And, you know, going through this process now, I’m enjoying it. It’s fun. You know, the little kid of me is screaming just to know that you know my name. I’m potentially going to be hearing my name called on Tuesday night, so it’s going to be a dream come true.”<\/p>\n
UofL head coach Pat Kelsey will not be in New York with Brown. <\/p>\n
“Kel has a very, very, very close knit family, and you know, there’s there’s only so many spots and so many seats there.” Kelsey said on Monday. <\/p>\n
The Cards head coach also said that Brown’s accomplishments should not be overlooked. <\/p>\n
“Although he was only here for one year, I mean, that young man is going to be celebrated and remembered and revered around here for a long, long time,” Kelsey said.<\/p>\n
“He broke the freshman scoring record in Louisville history. He made 40 something points. He made ten threes. That’s magic. That’s magic. And that’s what that kid has. He’s got an it about him. For the rest of his life when he walks down the street, there should be theme music behind him because he’s got that type of vibe and bounce and and and charm and twinkle in his eye,” Kelsey added. “So I’m well aware of how special of a player I coached. I’ve said many times a more proud of the caliber of special human being that Mikel is. So I’m so proud of him, and I think this city is as well.”<\/p>\n
Brown tied Wes Unseld single-game school record when he scored 45 points against N.C. State on February 9, also equaling the school record with 10 made three-pointers. He also scored 29 points in a 96-88 win over archrival Kentucky on November 11. <\/p>\n
Here is the company Brown would join. These are the former UofL players who have been Top 10 picks in the NBA Draft: <\/p>\n
1948 No. 3 George Hauptfuhrer Boston Celtics <\/p>\n
1952 No. 7 Bob Lochmueller Syracuse Nationals <\/p>\n
1957 No. 2 Charlie Tyra Detroit Pistons <\/p>\n
1959 No. 8 Don Goldstein Detroit Pistons <\/p>\n
1968 No. 2 Wes Unseld Baltimore Bullets <\/p>\n
1969 No. 10 Butch Beard Atlanta Hawks <\/p>\n
1975 No. 8 Junior Bridgeman Los Angeles Lakers <\/p>\n
1980 No. 2 Darrell Griffith Utah Jazz <\/p>\n
1983 No. 3 Rodney McCray Houston Rockets <\/p>\n
1984 No. 8 Lancaster Gordon Los Angeles Clippers <\/p>\n
1989 No. 1 Pervis Ellison Sacramento Kings <\/p>\n
1990 No. 6 Felton Spencer Minnesota Timberwolves<\/p>\n
1996 No. 9 Samaki Walker Dallas Mavericks <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A total of 13 former UofL players have been top 10 picks in the NBA Draft. The last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-720376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}