Who Was The First Pick In The 2020 Nba Draft?
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The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The first pick was LaMelo Ball, who was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets.
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards was the first pick in the 2020 NBA draft. He is a shooting guard from Georgia. Edwards was the SEC Freshman of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American.
High School
Anthony Edwards is a 6’5” shooting guard from Atlanta, Georgia. He played high school basketball for Holy Spirit Preparatory School, where he was rated as a five-star recruit and one of the top prospects in the nation. He committed to playing college basketball for the University of Georgia, but opted to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft after one season. Edwards was selected with the first overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
University of Georgia
Anthony Edwards (born August 2, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Georgia. Edwards was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in his class. He was selected with the first overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2020 NBA draft.
LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball was born on October 1, 2001, in Anaheim, California. He is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Ball was drafted number one overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets.
High School
LaMelo Ball attended Chino Hills High School in his hometown of Chino Hills, California. He led the school’s basketball team to a 72–0 record during his sophomore season and a national No. 1 ranking. As a junior, he averaged a triple-double of 27.4 points, 10.1 assists, and 8.7 rebounds per game. He was named a McDonald’s All-American and earned Co-MVP honors at the Jordan Brand Classic All-Star game. Ball was also named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year as well as Gatorade National Player of the Year. On October 2, 2017, he committed to play college basketball for UCLA but later decommitted after coach Steve Alford was fired in December 2017.
Illawarra Hawks
LaMelo Ball was the first pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He was drafted by the Illawarra Hawks, a team in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL).
LaMelo is the youngest player ever to be drafted into the NBA. He’s also the first player to be drafted straight out of high school since 2005.
LaMelo comes from a family of basketball players. His father, LaVar, is a former professional player and his brother, Lonzo, plays for the New Orleans Pelicans.
James Wiseman
On November 18th, 2020, the Memphis Grizzlies selected James Wiseman with the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft. Wiseman, a 7-foot-1 center from the University of Memphis, was widely considered to be the best prospect in the draft.
High School
Early in his high school career, Wiseman attended and played basketball for The Ensworth School, a private college preparatory school in Nashville, Tennessee. He helped his team win the DII-AA state championship as a sophomore in 2016. In 2017, Wiseman transferred to Memphis East High School. As a junior in 2017–18, he was named Mr. Basketball USA, Naismith Boys’ High School Player of the Year, USA Today High School Player of the Year, MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year. Wiseman averaged 25.8 points and 14 rebounds per game during his junior season. Wiseman originally committed to play college basketball at the University of Kentucky under then-head coach John Calipari. However, on November 20, 2018, he decommitted from Kentucky following an NCAA investigation into impermissible benefits given to him by Penny Hardaway while he was still in high school; Hardaway later became head coach at Memphis.
University of Memphis
Wiseman played high school basketball for Memphis East High School. He was ranked as the number one recruit in the class of 2019 by Rivals.com and ESPN. Wiseman committed to play college basketball for the Memphis Tigers of the University of Memphis.
In his freshman season at Memphis, Wiseman was named the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Rookie of the Year and was named to the AAC All-Rookie Team. He averaged 19.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game.
On December 21, 2019, after playing just three games for Memphis, it was announced that Wiseman had been ruled ineligible by the NCAA and would have to sit out 12 games before he could reapply for eligibility. The NCAA ruled that Wiseman’s mother had received $11,500 from Penny Hardaway, who was then the head coach at Memphis, while Hardaway was still considered a booster for the school—making Hardaway’s payment a violation of NCAA rules.
