Kings Select Nik Stauskas In First Round Of 2014 NBA Draft

The Sacramento Kings tonight (Thursday, June 26th) selected University of Michigan guard Nik Stauskas (STOUS-kiss) in the first round (8th overall) of the 2014 NBA Draft.

An early entry candidate, the 6-6, 205-pound Stauskas earned numerous All-American honors and was named the 2013-14 Big 10 Player of the Year after averaging 17.5 points (.470 FG%, .442 3pt%, .824 FT%), 2.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 35.6 minutes per game in 36 appearances for the Wolverines during his sophomore campaign. In two seasons with Michigan, Stauskas helped the Wolverines to the NCAA Tournament title game in 2013 and a Big Ten Championship and an Elite Eight appearance in 2014, finishing with career averages of 14.1 points (.467 FG%, .441 3pt%, .832 FT%), 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 32.9 minutes per game in 75 contests. In the Michigan record books, he is ranked second all-time in career free throw percentage, fifth in three-point field goal percentage, eighth in three-point field goals made (172) and 10th in three-point field goals attempted (390).

Stauskas becomes the first player to be selected out of Michigan by the Kings in franchise history. For the sixth consecutive Draft, the Kings selected an early entry candidate.

Stauskas, 20, sneaks up on people. Though he stands a legitimate 6-foot-6 and has long arms and a strong lower body, he was never the first player chosen in pickup games, never regarded as a prep phenom and only recently projected as a mid-lottery pick. A native of Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, he dropped his hockey stick almost the moment he first touched a basketball. Former Raptors star Vince Carter was his boyhood idol, but he was a fan of the Lakers and Kings and particularly fascinated by a flashy point guard named Jason Williams.