STANFORD, Calif. – All-Pac-12 forward KZ Okpala was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 32nd overall pick of the NBA Draft in Brooklyn, New York, Thursday night.
"We are so happy for KZ," Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. "This is such a special time for him as he realizes his dream of playing in the NBA. We look forward to watching him excel at the next stage and wish him and his family all the best."
The Phoenix Suns have reportedly traded the draft rights to Okpala to the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers later reportedly traded the draft rights to the Miami Heat. Trades will be finalized at a later date.
A dream come true for @kz_okpala_.#GoStanford | #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/17UQWSLCai
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) June 21, 2019
Okpala is the 38th overall NBA Draft selection from Stanford. He is the first Cardinal to be drafted since Anthony Brown's selection by the Los Angeles Lakers (34th overall) in 2015.
Okpala became the youngest player in program history to be selected in the NBA Draft. He joined Brook and Robin Lopez as the only sophomores from Stanford to be picked in the NBA Draft. At 20 years and one month old at the time of Thursday's NBA Draft, Okpala is a month younger than Brook (10th overall) and Robin (15th overall) were when they were selected in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft.
Okpala earned First Team All-Pac-12, First Team United Sates Basketball Writers Association All-District and Second Team National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District honors as a sophomore. He averaged a team-best 16.8 points to go along with 5.7 rebounds and a steal per contest in 2018-19.
The Cardinal standout finished fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring with the second-most 20-point games (15) in the conference as a sophomore. He also ranked 16th in the conference in rebounding and 12th in defensive rebounding (4.5 drpg). During the Pac-12 season, he finished fifth in the conference in scoring (17.5 ppg).
Okpala averaged 13.8 ppg over his two seasons on The Farm.
Okpala scored a career-high 30 points in the win at California during his sophomore season. He recorded four consecutive 20-point games for the first time in his career in the middle of the 2019 conference season, achieving the mark against Arizona (29), Arizona State (21), Washington (22) and Utah (22). The forward finished his sophomore season on The Farm with a pair of double-doubles, posting 22 points and 10 rebounds in the Pac-12 opener against UCLA and 20 points and 10 rebounds in the season opener against Seattle.
He joins Brook Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks), Robin Lopez (Chicago Bulls), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks) and Chasson Randle (Washington Wizards) as former Stanford players in the NBA.