BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Kansas guards Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun were among the 58 players selected in the 2022 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn Thursday night. Agbaji was the overall No. 14 choice of the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Braun was taken by the Denver Nuggets and was the No. 21 selection.
“It’s life changing,” KU head coach Bill Self said of Agbaji and Braun. “Even though you knew it was going to happen, in a span of seconds lives have changed for a long time and maybe forever. What they both bring is a winning culture as much as anything. They’re winners and they’ll add to any winning cultures that are already in place on those teams. They will make these teams better.”
Historically, Agbaji is the 18th KU lottery selection and the 12 in the Bill Self era. The NBA lottery began in 1985 and recognizes the top 14 players chosen in the NBA Draft. Agbaji and Braun gives Kansas 85 all-time NBA Draft selections, including 27 in the Self era which began in 2003-04. Since the NBA adopted a two-round draft in 1989, Kansas has had 26 first-round selections and 40 total chosen.
The Final Four and Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Agbaji was a 2022 Consensus All-America First Team honoree, collecting All-America first-team nods from the NABC, Associated Press, The Sporting News and USBWA. The Kansas City, Missouri, native is Kansas’ 31st all-time Consensus All-America First Team selection, which is more than any other school. He is the first Jayhawk to earn the first-team honor since Devonte’ Graham in 2018. Agbaji was named the unanimous 2022 Big 12 Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring with an average of 18.8 points per game. A four-year starter for KU, Agbaji etched his name into the Kansas records book. He set the record for consecutive games of three-point field goals made at 53. Agbaji concludes his KU career ranked 15th on the KU career scoring list with 1,652 points, fourth on the three-point field goals made (250), fourth on three-point field goals attempted (670) and ninth in minutes played (3,978).
Braun averaged 14.3 points per game which was sixth in the Big 12. The Burlington, Kansas, native was named to the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region All-Tournament Team and the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team in addition to be selected All-Big 12 Second Team in 2021-22. This season, Braun posted five double-doubles and he was also named to the ESPN Events Invitational All-Tournament in November. In the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Braun became the 65th player in Kansas history, 20th under Bill Self, to score 1,000 points for his career. He currently ranks 63rd with 1,018 points. Braun is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team honoree who was nominated for CoSIDA Academic All-America in 2021 and 2022. He was a member of the 2020 Big 12 All-Freshman Team and has twice won Big 12 Player of the Week during his career.
KANSAS NBA DRAFT HISTORY
Year – name (round/overall selection)
1948 – Otto Schnellbacher (Providence region)
1952 – Clyde Lovellette (1/10)
1953 – Dean Kelley (8/56), Gil Reich (11/32)
1954 – B.H. Born (3/22), Alan Kelley (7/56)
1957 – Maurice King (6/48)
1958 – Wilt Chamberlain (Territorial selection)
1959 – Ron Loneski (10/134)
1961 – Wayne Hightower (1/5), Bill Bridges (3/32)
1963 – Nolen Ellison (4/29)
1966 – Walt Wesley (1/6), Al Lopes (13/106)
1967 – Ron Franz (4/33)
1968 – Roger Bohnenstiel (9/120)
1969 – Jo Jo White (1/9), Dave Nash (4/48), Bruce Sloan (11/153)
1971 – Dave Robisch (3/44), Roger Brown (4/64), Pierre Russell (13/207)
1972 – Bud Stallworth (1/7)
1975 – Rick Suttle (7/110), Roger Morningstar (8/144)
1976 – Norm Cook (1/16)
1977 – Herb Nobles (6/124)
1978 – Ken Koenigs (5/99), John Douglas (6/118)
1979 – Paul Mokeski (2/42),
1981 – Darnell Valentine (1/16), Art Housey (3/47), John Crawford (7/160), Randolph Carroll (10/220)
1982 – Tony Guy (2/46), David Magley (2/28)
1984 – Carl Henry (4/80), Brian Martin (9/185)
1986 – Greg Drieling (2/26), Ron Kellogg (2/42), Calvin Thompson (4/71)
1988 – Danny Manning (1/1), Archie Marshall (3/75)
1990 – Kevin Pritchard (2/34)
1991 – Mark Randall (1/26)
1993 – Rex Walters (1/16), Adonis Jordan (2/42)
1994 – Darrin Hancock (2/38)
1995 – Greg Ostertag (1/28)
1997 – Scot Pollard (1/19), Jacque Vaughn (1/27)
1998 – Raef LaFrentz (1/3), Paul Pierce (1/10)
1999 – Ryan Robertson (2/45)
2001 – Eric Chenowith (2/42)
2002 – Drew Gooden (1/4)
2003 – Kirk Hinrich (1/7), Nick Collison (1/12)
2005 – Wayne Simien (1/29)
2007 – Julian Wright (1/13)
2008 – Brandon Rush (1/13), Darrell Arthur (1/27), Mario Chalmers (2/34), Darnell Jackson (2/52), Sasha Kaun (2/56)
2010 – Xavier Henry (1/12), Cole Aldrich (1/11)
2011 – Marcus Morris (1/13), Markieff Morris (1/14), Josh Selby (2/49)
2012 – Thomas Robinson (1/5), Tyshawn Taylor (2/41)
2013 – Ben McLemore (1/7), Jeff Withey (2/39)
2014 – Andrew Wiggins (1/1), Joel Embiid (1/3)
2015 – Kelly Oubre Jr. (1/15)
2016 – Cheick Diallo (2/33)
2017 – Josh Jackson (1/4), Frank Mason III (2/34)
2018 – Devonte’ Graham (2/34), Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (2/47)
2020 – Udoka Azubuike (1/27)
2022 – Ochai Agbaji (1/14), Christian Braun (1/21)
