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Curry goes first among state players
Three Tar Heels taken in the first round
AP Photo
Tyler Hansbrough shakes hands with NBA commissioner David Stern.
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Published: June 26, 2009
Davidson's Stephen Curry was overshadowed by ACC players for much of his three-season college career, but last night he beat them all to the stage during the NBA Draft in New York.
Curry was the first player from the state to be taken in the draft at Madison Square Garden. The Golden State Warriors took him on the seventh pick of the first round.
Curry, a 6-3 shooting guard, was a first-round draft choice on the 45th birthday of his father, Dell, who had a 16-year NBA career.
Curry said that his father's professional experience, mostly with the old Charlotte Hornets, has helped him prepare for an NBA career.
"This is the best job in the world," Curry said in New York. "Growing up he taught me how to do things the right way.
"I can carry what I learned growing up in my home and watching him in his NBA career and apply it to my life. I'm very excited about this opportunity."
Curry could play either guard position but is known for his long-range shooting. He averaged 28.6 points last season as a junior and was named the Southern Conference player of the year for the second consecutive season.
Six players from state programs followed Curry in the draft and all were from the ACC, starting with Gerald Henderson, a Duke guard.
Henderson was taken by the Charlotte Bobcats with the 12th pick. Tyler Hansbrough, a former North Carolina center, was taken on the next pick by the Indiana Pacers, and was the first of three UNC players taken in the first round.
The selections marked the second time in five seasons that at least three UNC players were taken in the first round. UNC had four first-round selections in 2005 off a national-championship team.
The Bobcats were interested in Louisville's Terrence Williams but he was taken on the No. 11 pick by the New Jersey Nets. The Bobcats landed one of the draft's most athletic players who can help with scoring from the outside.
Henderson said that he was delighted to move down I-85 to Charlotte from Durham to begin his NBA career.
"I am looking forward to getting into training camp and summer league to work with my new teammates and the coaching staff," Henderson said in a prepared statement released by Duke last night.
"The Bobcats have a bright future and I am grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of it."
Henderson is the 15th Duke player taken in the lottery section of the first 14 picks, the most for any major-college program since the lottery system went into place in 1985. He is the 21st first-round pick under Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Henderson's father, Gerald Sr., is a former NBA player. He played 13 seasons and was a member of NBA championship teams in 1981 and 1984 with the Boston Celtics and in 1990 with the Detroit Pistons.
Hansbrough, a 6-9 center at UNC, had not been linked frequently to the Pacers in draft projections. Hansbrough is the fourth national player of the year to not be drafted in the first 10 picks of a draft but said that he was grateful to join a team that he considers rising in the league.
Hansbrough also said he intends to silence the critics who believe that he will not be a successful NBA player. He was the 2008 national player of the year and helped UNC win this season's NCAA Tournament championship.
"I'm going to have to prove them wrong," Hansbrough said in New York. "I'm going to go to Indianapolis and work on my game and try and go up there and help them win ball games."
James Johnson, a former Wake Forest forward, was drafted No. 16 by the Chicago Bulls. Ty Lawson, the point guard on UNC's title team, was taken No. 18 in a peculiar pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Lawson was the third point guard taken in the first round by the Timberwolves. Minnesota then traded Lawson to the Denver Nuggets for a future first-round pick.
Jeff Teague, a former Wake Forest guard, was drafted No. 19 by the Atlanta Hawks.
UNC's final pick of the first round was Wayne Ellington, a shooting guard and the NCAA Final Four's most outstanding player, who was taken at No. 28 by the Timberwolves.
The last ACC player taken in the first round was Toney Douglas of Florida State. He went on the 29th pick by the Los Angeles Lakers, this season's NBA champions, who traded his draft rights to the New York Knicks.
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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