San Antonio Spurs pick Notre Dame's Blake Wesley in NBA Draft's first round
Blake Wesley chose to be different.
Never in the history of the Notre Dame men's basketball program had a player left for the NBA Draft after just one season in the Irish program. That was until Wesley, a South Bend native, chose to do so earlier this year.
Wesley learned Thursday night where his one-and-done would lead when the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the No. 25 overall pick in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
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Wesley, a guard, became the first Irish player selected in the first round since the Washington Wizards drafted Jerian Grant in 2015 with pick No. 19. He is the first Notre Dame draft pick since Demetrius Jackson, a fellow South Bend native, was selected in the second round of the 2016 draft by the Boston Celtics.
Wesley, his parents, and Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey were in attendance for his pick to be announced in Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Brey has now coached four of the 21 first-round NBA Draft picks in program history.
Notre Dame named Wesley its Rookie of the Year after he led the Irish in scoring average (14.4 points per game) and total steals (44) as a freshman. The 6-foot-4, 187-pound Wesley finished with the fourth-most points (504) by a freshman in Notre Dame program history behind Troy Murphy (519 in 1998-99), Chris Thomas (516 in 2001-02) and Adrian Dantley (511 in 1973-74).
Wesley shot 40.4% from the field, 30.3% from 3 and 65.7% from the free-throw line. He averaged 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 29.4 minutes per game.
Wesley, who was named to the All-ACC Second Team and All-Rookie Team, made his debut in Notre Dame's starting lineup seven games into the season at Boston College on Dec. 3. He started all but one of the remaining games for the Irish season, which ended with an NCAA Tournament second-round loss to Texas Tech.
Rivals ranked Wesley as the No. 27 shooting guard and No. 104 overall in the 2021 class. The four-star recruit starred at South Bend Riley High School.
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