Three First Team Alums Selected in 2010 NBA Draft

By Ryan Wood, iHoops.com June 25, 2010

The 2010 NBA Draft was a big night for amateur basketball players all over the world. It was also a special night for the iHoops First Team program.

Three alums of the program heard their name called in the first round of the draft in New York. They were: Cole Aldrich of the University of Kansas (No. 11 to the New Orleans Hornets), Patrick Patterson of Kentucky (No. 14 to the Houston Rockets) and Elliot Williams of Memphis (No. 22 to the Portland Trail Blazers).

Aldrich was immediately traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. For being a first-round selection, Aldrich, Patterson and Williams all will receive guaranteed contracts for the 2010-11 season.

The addition of those three brings the total number of iHoops alums in the NBA to 11.

The First Team program was established in 2001 as a mentoring program designed to help promising high school student-athletes navigate the recruiting process and be independent thinkers in the world that awaits them. Many of the players invited to First Team are exceptional basketball prospects who spend four years learning about what’s in store for them as a special athletic talent.

Among the alums are NBA players O.J. Mayo, Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., Eric Gordon, Bill Walker, Brandan Wright, Deaquan Cook and Byron Mullens.