That’s why they call them “mock” drafts.
Monarch High School graduate Louis Amundson of Nevada-Las Vegas and two-time Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year Justin Williams of Wyoming were no worse than second-round projections before the NBA draft Wednesday night.
Neither had his name called in New York when it counted. Ditto for the University of Denver’s Yemi Nicholson. But the center who became the Sun Belt Conference player of the year with the Pioneers accepted the Sacramento Kings’ invitation to play for their summer league team, according to his agent, Andy Miller.
“He’s a young player who is still evolving,” Miller said of Nicholson.
“I was a little surprised that one or two of those guys didn’t get drafted,” Nuggets director of player personnel Mark Warkentien said of the area products.
Warkentien said some undrafted area players would be called to play summer league ball for the Nuggets. Air Force’s Antoine Hood, a 6-foot-4 guard, has a good chance of being one of them.
Amundson, Hood, Nicholson and Williams shouldn’t give up hope about playing in the NBA. Colorado State’s Milt Palacio and Wyoming’s Josh Davis are players from the area who made it to the NBA despite going undrafted.
Amundson, who played at Boulder High School before transferring to Monarch, averaged 14.3 points and 8.6 rebounds as a senior at UNLV.
Hood averaged 14.9 points his final season with the Falcons.
Nicholson averaged 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds as a DU senior.
Williams, who had a triple-double this year during the MWC Tournament in Denver, averaged 11.1 points and 11.0 rebounds as a Wyoming senior and ranked No. 2 nationally with an average of 5.4 blocked shots.
