Hunter, Jerome and Guy Selected in 2019 NBA Draft
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Former Virginia stars De’Andre Hunter, Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy were selected in the 2019 NBA Draft Thursday (June 20) night.
Hunter was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the fourth overall pick and is expected to be traded to Atlanta. Jerome was picked 24th overall by Philadelphia and is expected to be traded to Phoenix.
Hunter became UVA’s highest first-round selection since Ralph Sampson was selected first overall by Houston in 1983. In addition, UVA has two players drafted in the first round of the same draft for the first time in school history.
Guy was selected by New York with the 55th pick of the second round as the Cavaliers had three NBA draft selections for the first time since 1987 when Olden Polynice (Chicago), Andrew Kennedy (Philadelphia) and Tom Sheehey (Boston) were selected in the first, second and fourth rounds, respectively. Guy will head to Sacramento as part of a trade.
Virginia has had eight players drafted in the NBA since 2012, including Mike Scott (2012), Joe Harris (2014), Justin Anderson (2015), Malcolm Brogdon (2016), Devon Hall (2018), and Hunter, Jerome and Guy in 2019. Scott, Harris, Brogdon and Hall were second-round selections, while Anderson was selected 21st overall in the first round.
Hunter, Jerome and led UVA to its first NCAA title in 2018-19. Hunter earned consensus third-team All-America honors, and was the NABC National Defensive Player of the Year, All-ACC first-team and ACC Defensive Player of the honoree after his breakout season in 2018-19. He averaged 15.2 points and 5.1 rebounds, while shooting 52 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from 3-point range and 78.3 percent from the free throw line. Hunter racked up 10 20-point games, including a career-high 27 points against Texas Tech in the NCAA championship game. He averaged 12.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 71 career games.
Jerome averaged career highs in points (13.6), rebounds (4.2) and assists (5.5) during his junior season in 2018-19. Jerome netted six 20-point games, including 24 against Purdue and 21 against Auburn in the NCAA Tournament. Jerome registered three double-doubles and tied a school record with 14 assists at Syracuse. Jerome, who was two-time All-ACC honoree, totaled 1,011 points, 317 rebounds and 384 assists in 105 career games in three seasons at UVA.
Guy was a Final Four Most Outstanding Player, two-time All-American, two-time All-ACC first-team honoree and ACC Tournament MVP during his decorated three-year career at UVA. He averaged 19.5 points in wins over Auburn and Texas Tech at the 2019 NCAA Final Four. Guy sank three free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining to lift Virginia to a 63-62 win over the Tigers in the national semifinals. Guy added 24 points in the Cavaliers’ 85-77 overtime win against the Red Raiders in the title game. Guy led Virginia in scoring at 15.4 points per game. He earned consensus All-America third-team honors this season and was a third-team All-American in 2017-18.