In 2005 Andrew Bogut led the Utes to the Sweet Sixteen on his way to being drafted #1 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. Four years later fellow Aussie big man Luke Nevill led Utah back to the NCAA tournament, and now he is looking to be drafted in tomorrow's NBA Draft. Nevill isn't the caliber of player that Bogut is, but under coach Jim Boylen's tutelage (a coach with an NBA resume of developing big men) he has developed into a reliable post presence. While Nevill won't go #1 and may not go in the first round, he could be a good value pick in the second round. TNT analyst David Aldridge has Nevill listed as the third best center in the draft on his board, behind UConn's Hasheem Thabeet and Ohio State's B.J. Mullens.
Perhaps the better comparison is not between Bogut and Nevill, as natural as that may seem, but between Nevill and Morgan Warburton, a former Ute selected in the second round of this year's WNBA Draft. Warburton was taken by the Sacramento Monarchs with the 33rd pick, but did not make the team's final roster.
There hasn't been much support for the WNBA in Utah - the Starzz franchise relocated from Salt Lake City to San Antonio and was renamed the Silver Stars - but, to her credit, coach Elaine Elliott has seen four of her players drafted by the league in recent years.
2009 - Morgan Warburton, #33, Sacramento Monarchs
2008 - Leilani Mitchell, #25, Phoenix Mercury
2006 - Shona Thorburn, #7, Minnesota Lynx
2006 - Kim Smith, #13, Sacramento Monarchs
Of the four only Leilani Mitchell is presently playing in the league with the New York Liberty (Smith and Warburton were both waived before the 2009 season began). The WNBA has fewer teams and fewer roster spots than the NBA does, however, so the 7' 2" Nevill should face better prospects of being drafted and making a team roster.
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