University of Pittsburgh senior forward Lamar Patterson (Lancaster, Pa./St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.) was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 48 pick in Thursday evening’s 2014 NBA Draft. Seconds later, ESPN announced that Milwaukee traded Patterson to the Atlanta Hawks.
Patterson is the second Pitt player drafted in the last two seasons as Steven Adams was taken by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the No. 12 overall pick last June. Patterson becomes the sixth Pitt player selected in the NBA Draft in the last 10 years: Chris Taft (2005), Aaron Gray (2007), Sam Young (2009), DeJuan Blair (2009), Steven Adams (2013) and Lamar Patterson (2014).
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Patterson helped guide Pitt to three NCAA Tournament appearances, a 122-49 combined record, five consecutive 20-win seasons and a 78-17 record at the Petersen Events Center. An all-around player, Patterson became just the third player in school history to surpass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists in a career (the other two players were Carl Krauser, 2002-06 and Brad Wananaker, 2007-11). He set a school-record for most career games played (148), started 106 games, scored 1,410 points, grabbed 588 rebounds, dished out 427 assists and hit 171 3-pointers over his five-year career.
As a senior in 2013-14, Patterson earned Oscar Robertson and Naismith National Player of the Year Watch List honors. An Associated Press All-America honorable mention selection, Patterson earned All-ACC Second Team accolades by both the coaches and media after leading the Panthers in both scoring (17.1 ppg.) and assists (154, 4.3 apg.) and grabbing 4.9 rebounds per game. He also registered two 30-point games, 12 20-point contests and reached double figure scoring in 33 of 36 games on the year. His 616 total points ranked as the ninth most points scored in a season by an individual. Patterson also became the first player in school history to earn three league player of the week honors in one season.
With the selection, Patterson becomes Pitt’s fourth current NBA player along with Aaron Gray (Sacramento Kings), DeJuan Blair (Dallas Mavericks) and Steven Adams (Oklahoma City Thunder).