Gophers’ drought without NBA first-round pick stretches two decades
The Gophers men’s basketball program’s drought without a first-round NBA draft pick has reached 20 years.
Minnesota freshman guard Cam Christie’s name was not called during the opening 30 picks of the NBA draft Wednesday in New York City.
Kris Humphries in 2004 remains the last Gophers’ first-round pick. The Hopkins native was picked 14th overall by the Utah Jazz to start his 13-year NBA career.
Christie will now be a candidate to be picked in the second round, which begins at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Christie, of Arlington Heights, Ill., was an all-Big Ten freshman team honoree last season after putting up 11.3 points and 39 percent 3-point shooting across 33 games.
Christie’s older brother, Max, was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 35th pick in 2022.
The Gophers haven’t had any NBA draft picks since Daniel Oturu of St. Paul was picked by the Timberwolves with the 33rd selection in the 2020 draft.
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