University of Florida point guard Nick Calathes was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 45th pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night. Calathes became the 13^th Gator drafted under head coach Billy Donovan.

 

Calathes became the third Gator since 2007 to be drafted by the Timberwolves, joining Corey Brewer (1^st round, 7^th overall pick in 2007) and Chris Richard (2^nd round, 41^st overall pick in 2007).

 

He has already signed a professional deal with Panathinaikos, a powerful Euroleague team in Greece, putting his NBA career on hold for the time being.

 

Florida has now had at least one player drafted six of the past seven years and the Gators have now had an SEC-leading 12 players drafted since 2000 alone.

 

Calathes led UF in scoring in each of his two seasons in Gainesville and was a First-Team All-SEC selection this season after sharing Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors a year ago.

 

He broke the school record for assists in each of his two seasons at UF, totaling 221 as a freshman and 231 this past season. He led the SEC in assists and assists per game both years. Over his two years at Florida he finished with 1,170 points, the highest freshman-sophomore total in Gator history.

 

Calathes led UF in scoring at 17.2 points per game, assists at 6.4 per contest and in steals with 68. He was the only player in the nation to average better than 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game last season.

 

Calathes had two triple-doubles in his career and is the only player in UF history to record multiple triple-doubles.

 

FLORIDA GATORS DRAFT HISTORY

 

GATORS SELECTED IN THE NBA DRAFT

 

PLAYER                        YEAR                      TEAM                     ROUND    OVERALL

Hobbs, Joe                      1958                         Minneapolis               9th                      63

Luyk, Cliff                       1962                         New York                 4th                      29

Henderson, Brooks         1965                         Los Angeles              4th                      33

Keller, Gary                    1967                         Los Angeles              6th                      59

Miller, David                   1968                         Milwaukee                12th                    159

Walk, Neal                      1969                         Phoenix                     1st                       2

Owens, Andy                  1970                         Seattle                       11th                    174

Shy, Eugene                    1976                         New York                 10th                    163

Sanders, Len                   1977                         Denver                      8th                      169

Brewster, Larry               1978                         San Antonio              10th                    201

Cesare, Malcom              1979                         Phoenix                     4th                      86

Delancy, Vernon              1984                         Milwaukee                3rd                      67

Williams, Ronnie              1984                         Boston                      2nd                     48

McDowell, Eugene          1985                         Milwaukee                3rd                      68

Moten, Andrew               1987                         New Jersey               4th                      72       

Maxwell, Vernon             1988                         Denver                      2nd                     47

Schintzius, Dwayne          1990                         San Antonio              1st                       24

DeClercq, Andrew          1995                         Golden State             2nd                     34

Williams, Jason                1998                         Sacramento               1st                       7

Harvey, Donnell               2000                         New York                 1st                       22

Miller, Mike                    2000                         Orlando                     1st                       5

Matt Bonner                    2003                         Chicago                     2^nd                       45

Christian Drejer               2004                         New Jersey               2^nd                       51

David Lee                       2005                         New York                 1^st                       30

Al Horford                      2007                         Atlanta                      1^st                       3

Corey Brewer                 2007                         Minnesota                 1^st                       7

Joakim Noah                   2007                         Chicago                     1^st                       9

Chris Richard                  2007                         Minnesota                 2^nd                       41

Taurean Green                 2007                         Portland                    2^nd                       52

Marreese Speights           2008                         Philadelphia               1^st                       16

Nick Calathes               2009                         Minnesota               2^nd                      45

 

Gator NBA Draftees by Round

Round                                                              Selections

1                                                                      10

2                                                                      8

3                                                                      2

4                                                                      4

6                                                                      1

8                                                                      1

9                                                                      1

10                                                                    2

11                                                                    1

12                                                                    1

 

Gators in the NBA Draft by Team

Team                                                                Selections

New York                                                        4

Milwaukee                                                       3

Minnesota                                                      3

Chicago                                                            2

Los Angeles                                                     2

New Jersey                                                      2

Phoenix                                                            2

San Antonio                                                     2

Atlanta                                                             1

Minneapolis (Lakers)                                        1

Seattle                                                              1

Denver                                                             1

Boston                                                             1

Denver                                                             1

Golden State                                                    1

Sacramento                                                      1

Orlando                                                            1

Portland                                                           1

Philadelphia                                                      1

 

Gators in the NBA Draft by Overall Selection

 

Player                              Year                          Team                         Round                 Overall

Neal Walk                       1969                         Phoenix                     1                         2

Al Horford                      2007                         Atlanta                      1                         3

Mike Miller                     2000                         Orlando                     1                         5

Jason Williams                 1998                         Sacramento               1                         7

Corey Brewer                 2007                         Minnesota                 1                         7

Joakim Noah                   2007                         Chicago                     1                         9

Marreese Speights           2008                         Philadelphia               1                         16

Donnell Harvey                2000                         New York                 1                         22

Dwayne Schintzius           1990                         San Antonio              1                         24

Cliff Luyk                        1962                         New York                 4                         29

David Lee                       2005                         New York                 1                         30

Brooks Henderson          1965                         Los Angeles              4                         33

Andrew DeClercq           1995                         Golden State             2                         34

Chris Richard                  2007                         Minnesota                 2                         41

Matt Bonner                    2003                         Chicago                     2                         45

Nick Calathes               2009                         Minnesota               2                         45

Vernon Maxwell              1988                         Denver                      2                         47

Ronnie Williams               1984                         Boston                      2                         48

Christian Drejer               2004                         New Jersey               2                         51

Taurean Green                 2007                         Portland                    2                         52

Gary Keller                     1967                         Los Angeles              6                         59

Joe Hobbs                       1958                         Minneapolis               9                         63

Vernon Delancy               1984                         Milwaukee                3                         67

Eugene McDowell           1985                         Milwaukee                3                         68

Andrew Moten                1987                         New Jersey               4                         72

Malcom Cesare               1979                         Phoenix                     4                         86

David Miller                    1968                         Milwaukee                12                       159

Eugene Shy                     1976                         New York                 10                       163

Len Sanders                    1977                         Denver                      8                         169

Andy Owens                   1970                         Seattle                       11                       174

Larry Brewster                1978                         San Antonio              10                       201