FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas men’s basketball forward Adou Thiero was selected in the second round with the No. 36 overall pick in the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
The pick, which was the sixth of the second round, was acquired via trade from the Brooklyn Nets.
Thiero, who is listed at 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, led the Razorbacks in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.1 and 5.8, respectively. He was largely projected to be a second-round pick entering the draft.
A two-way athletic forward, Thiero was a strong defender for Arkansas this season, averaging 1.6 steals before missing 8 of the final 9 games of the season with a hyperextended left knee.
Thiero followed coach John Calipari to Arkansas after beginning his collegiate career at Kentucky, where he averaged 2.3 points as a freshman and 7.2 as a sophomore before doubling his output as a junior.
“If there are 10 better players in the country than Adou, I need you to show them to me,” Calipari said Nov. 13 after the Razorbacks defeated Troy. “He’s a unicorn physically now. You don’t have guys like him that are good enough with the ball.”
NBA scouts have listed shooting as their biggest concern regarding Thiero. He was 54.5% from the field in his lone season with the Razorbacks, but 68.8% of his shots came at the rim or in the paint. A further 14.2% came in the midrange.
Thiero shot 76.2% at the rim and 50.7% elsewhere in the paint but was 33.3% in the midrange and 25.6% from the three-point line.
MORE:How Arkansas basketball's Adou Thiero went from project to NBA draft prospect
The Lakers finished third in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
His father, Almamy Thiero, played for Calipari at Memphis. His mother, Mariam Sy, was selected by the Washington Mystics with the 33rd overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft. His sister, Mimi Thiero, is a 4-star prospect in the class of 2026 who holds offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt and others.
Thiero being taken in the second round broke a 17-year streak for Calipari in which he had a player selected in the first round.
“I wouldn’t miss on Adou Thiero in this draft,” Calipari said last Thursday on the Pat McAfee Show. “If anybody misses that, it’s going to be like they missed on — you ready? — Immanuel Quickley.
“Adou Thiero is a first-round draft pick…. Adou can play in a physical game and, athletically, be in the top 1%. He’s somebody, if you pass on, they’ll look back and say, ‘How many people passed on him?’ He’s that good.”