Bryson Gordon
Former Liberty guard Taelon Peter arrived in Lynchburg one season ago from the Division II ranks. On Thursday, the Arkansas native reached the pinnacle of professional basketball.
Peter was selected by the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night with the 54th overall pick second round of the 2025 NBA Draft. The transfer became just the third player in program history to be drafted, and the first since it shrank to two rounds in 1989. He is the highest-picked player in program history.
we have drafted Liberty guard Taelon Peter with the 54th pick in the 2025 @NBA Draft.
welcome to Indy, Taelon#GoldOnTheClock pic.twitter.com/YMfT4NwCaS
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 27, 2025
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The last Liberty player selected in the NBA Draft was Cliff Webber, by the Boston Celtics in the fourth round of the 1985 NBA Draft. A year earlier, Ezra Hill was selected in the 10th round by the Phoenix Suns.
Peter joins a Pacers franchise fresh off an appearance in the NBA Finals, pushing the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games. Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles in the final game and will miss most, if not all of the 2025-26 season.
Peter's one season in Lynchburg was filled with constant offensive explosions off the bench. He started just two out of the 35 games he played, pouring in 30 points on three different occasions. His 13.7 points per game led the team and he shot a Conference USA-best 75.6% on 2-point field goal attempts.
Taelon Peter
Liberty guard Taelon Peter shoots a free throw during a February game against Sam Houston at Liberty Arena. Peter was named Conference USA’s sixth man of the year on Monday. Courtesy of Liberty Athletics
Peter also scorched the net with 45% shooting from 3-point range on five attempts per game to set a new single-season program record. In three CUSA Tournament games, he averaged 15 points on 76% shooting from the field.
His athleticism, however, might have been his most eye-popping ability. At 6-foot-4, he was a constant threat for a highlight dunk in transition. Combined with his shooting prowess, Peter was good enough to earn workouts with the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Hornets and the Pacers leading into the draft.
Head coach Ritchie McKay landed Peter from DII Arkansas Tech in March 2024, where he averaged 15 points per game across three seasons. Prior to his time there, he played one season on the Division I level with Tennessee Tech, appearing in six games in the 2020-21 campaign.
CUSA Jacksonville St Liberty Basketball
Liberty guard Taelon Peter (center top) hangs from the rim after dunking against Jacksonville State during the second half of the Conference USA championship game on Saturday. Vasha Hunt, The Associated Press
Peter's effectiveness at Liberty earned him CUSA Sixth Man of the Year honors, as well as a selection to third team all-CUSA. Hours before being selected in the draft, Peter was to the Virginia Sports Information Directors second team all-state in the Commonwealth.
The selection of the Russellville, Arkansas, native came to the surprise of the panel on ESPN's draft coverage of the second round Thursday night.
The network's lead draft analyst, Jonathan Givony, reported: "Just a word on Taelon Peter who the Indiana Pacers just drafted. Wasn't in my top 100, wasn't invited to [the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament], wasn't invited to the G League camp, wasn't invited to the NBA combine, but hears his name called at 54.
Taelon Peter, Liberty's selfless spark plug, flourishing in sixth-man role
"Getting to see the first four or five minutes and how the game is being played and then coming in and being able to be a spark plug is a role I didn't know I would have so much fun in," Peter said.
"Led the NCAA in true shooting percentage, 33 dunks, tremendous athlete. This is why the NBA Draft is so beautiful because you hear guys like Taelon Peter hearing their name in the draft also."
Peter will likely make his Pacers debut in the NBA Summer League, which begins in Las Vegas on July 10.
Bryson Gordon, (434) 385-5529
bgordon@newsadvance.com
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