NBA Draft: UW’s Markelle Fultz goes No. 1

News

Washington's Markelle Fultz, right, poses for a photo with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers as the No. 1 pick overall during the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in New York. Photo: Associated Press/ (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The Philadelphia 76ers have selected guard Markelle Fultz with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

Fultz averaged 23.2 points last season at Washington, tops among freshmen, and added 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game, the only Division I player to reach those stats. He walked across the stage Thursday night at Barclays Center wearing red sneakers made of basketballs.

Washington’s Markelle Fultz in action against Arizona in an NCAA
college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/
Elaine Thompson)

The 76ers had the No. 1 pick for the second straight year after trading with the Boston Celtics on Monday. Now they add Fultz to a promising young core that includes Rookie of the Year finalists Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, plus Ben Simmons, the top pick from last year who sat out all season with a foot injury.

For Markelle Fultz, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

In keeping with that theme, he showed off the inside of his grey suit jacket after the Philadelphia 76ers picked him first in Thursday night’s NBA draft.

There were about a dozen pictures of friends and family along with his slogan F2G, which means “Faithful to the Grind.”

Fultz said it’s the pictures of the things that mean the most to him.

Recent Headlines

14 hours ago in Sports

NFL fines Jerry Jones $250,000 for obscene MetLife gesture he says was inadvertent

The NFL said Tuesday it has fined Jerry Jones $250,000 for an obscene gesture toward fans at MetLife Stadium that the Dallas owner said was "inadvertent" and intended for fans of the Cowboys, not the New York Jets.

14 hours ago in Sports

Alex Ovechkin is ready for his 21st season in Washington and his first after turning 40

When Alex Ovechkin was asked what he is most looking forward to on opening night this season, his answer was a subtle reminder that the 40-year-old version of the star forward is different than the player who entered the NHL two decades ago.

22 hours ago in Sports

Mistake-prone Chiefs blame themselves for crushing loss at Jaguars

Patrick Mahomes had an interception returned 99 yards for a touchdown and the Chiefs were flagged 13 times for 109 yards in a 31-28 loss to the Jaguars. Four of those penalties came in the final 1:45. The mounting mistakes proved to be the difference in a back-and-forth game, the fifth one of the NFL's Week 5 decided in the final 30 seconds.

2 days ago in Sports

Yankees would accomplish a rare feat if they come back down 0-2 in best-of-5 series vs. Blue Jays

The Bellinger babies are among the few Yankees fans not stressed about New York's 0-2 deficit to Toronto in their AL Division Series. Caiden is 3 years old and sister Cy is 2.

2 days ago in Sports

Drake Maye leads Patriots to 23-20 win over Bills, leaving NFL without an unbeaten team

Receiver Stefon Diggs is quite comfortable putting on a show in Buffalo. The big difference on Sunday night was doing so for the Bills' division rival New England Patriots.