University of Tennessee Athletics
Four Players From State Drafted
June 27, 2002 | Men's Basketball
June 27, 2002
(AP) -- Four players from the state of Tennessee, led by Dajuan Wagner of the University of Memphis, were among the first 33 picks in the NBA draft Wednesday night.
Wagner was taken by Cleveland as the sixth pick. Marcus Haislip of the University of Tennessee was chosen by Milwaukee as No. 13. Qyntel Woods of Memphis and Northeast Mississippi Community College was the 21st selection, drafted by Portland. In the second round, Vincent Yarbrough of UT was picked 33rd by Denver.
Wagner declared himself eligible for the draft as a freshman in April after the Tigers won the NIT championship.
The 6-foot-3 Wagner averaged 21.2 points and shot 41 percent from the field this season. He also averaged 3.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals. Wagner was selected the MVP of the NIT, Memphis' first postseason basketball championship.
Wagner, of Camden, N.J., averaged more than 40 points a game in high school and scored 100 points in one game as a senior.
His father, Milt Wagner, who played for Louisville's 1986 national championship team, played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Milt Wagner is an assistant on John Calipari's staff at Memphis.
Haislip, a junior, is the first Tennessee player to turn pro before his senior season since Bernard King in 1977.
Haislip, 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds, averaged 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds and blocked 44 shots. Known for his 40-inch vertical leap and ability to bench press 400 pounds, Haislip missed the first part of last season because he was academically ineligible. After he returned and Ron Slay went down with a knee injury, Haislip was the key to the Vols' offense.
Woods didn't start playing basketball until his junior year of high school and then went to two junior colleges to play. He had planned to head to the Memphis Tigers after Northeast Mississippi Community College but couldn't pass up a draft in which he was expected to be a top pick.
Yarbrough, 6-7, 210 pounds, led the Vols in scoring (18.1) and rebounding (7.5) last season. He finished his career as the school's all-time leader in steals with 211.
UT has not had two players selected in the same draft since 1989 when Dyron Nix (second round to Charlotte) and Doug Roth (second round to Washington) were selected.
