Kai Jones selected No. 19 in NBA Draft

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Former University of Texas basketball standout Kai Jones was selected as the No. 19 pick by the New York Knicks in the 2021 NBA Draft on Thursday evening at Barclays Center. Jones, whose draft rights were traded to the Charlotte Hornets, is the 19th first-round pick in the NBA Draft in UT program history.

Texas has now produced a first-round selection in four of the last five and five of the last seven NBA Drafts. UT is one of six colleges to have a first-round pick in at least four of the last five NBA Drafts, joining Duke, Florida State, Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina. Texas' four first-round selections over the last five years rank in a tie for seventh nationally.

Dating back to the 2015 NBA Draft, the Longhorns have had the following players selected in the first round: Myles Turner (No. 11 in 2015), Jarrett Allen (No. 22 in 2017), Mohamed Bamba (No. 6 in 2018), Jaxson Hayes (No. 8 in 2019) and Jones (No. 19 in 2021).

Jones played in 53 career games (14 starts) during his two seasons at Texas. For his career, he averaged 6.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 block in 19.8 minutes per contest and reached double figures in scoring 15 times, including one 20-point effort.

As a sophomore in 2020-21, Jones became the first Longhorn to earn the Big 12 Conference's Sixth Man Award since the honor began in 2006-07 and garnered honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades. He played in 26 of a possible 27 games (four starts) and ranked third on the team in rebounding (4.8 rpg) and blocks (24), fourth in steals (22) and sixth in scoring (8.8 ppg) in 20.3 minutes per contest. Jones converted 58.0-percent from the field (83-143), including a 38.2-percent mark from three-point range (13-34), and 68.9-percent from the free throw line (51-74).

Since the NBA Draft began in 1947, a total of 46 Longhorns have now heard their names called on draft night. Texas has produced 19 first-round selections and 11 second-round picks in program history. UT has now had 21 players drafted in the last 23 years, dating back to the 1999 Draft.

Most Total NBA Draft First-Round Picks by School (Last Five NBA Drafts, since 2017)

School	Number of First-Round Picks
Kentucky	11
Duke	10
North Carolina	7
Florida State	5
Gonzaga	5
Villanova	5
Arizona	4
Michigan	4
TEXAS	4
Washington	4
Alabama	3
Oregon	3
Tennessee	3
UCLA	3
USC	3
Virginia	3

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kai Jones