SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Wednesday will be a night that many young men have been working for since they first picked up a basketball. It’s the start of the NBA Draft.
Some of the best young stars on the hardwood waiting to hear NBA Commissioner Adam Silver call their names and welcome them to the league.
Duke University star Cooper Flagg is the consensus favorite to go No. 1 overall to the Dallas Mavericks, but many other notable prospects will be on the board for teams to choose from.
This includes Johni Broome, the former Auburn University star and Plant City native.
Broome, a senior who averaged 18.6 points per game, 10.8 rebounds per game and 2.9 assists per game during the 2024-25 season, could go in the late portion of the first round of this year’s draft. He and the Tigers making it as far as the Final Four earlier this year back in March.
They were knocked out by the Florida Gators who eventually won the national championship.
The star of those Gators who took the nation by storm with his NCAA tourney run also grew up not too far from the Suncoast and he is also hoping to hear his name called tonight. That is Walter Clayton Jr.
The former University of Florida star and Polk County native is waiting patiently and eagerly to hear his name called tonight.
Clayton averaged 18.3 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, and 3.7 rebounds per game for the Gators during the 2024-25 campaign.
Clayton helped lead the Gators to the national championship this past season.
We’ll keep you informed both on air and online on where Clayton, Broome and other notable prospects land after the draft concludes.
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