The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
If the 2013 NBA Draft had been held in November 2012, shooting guard/small forward Shabazz Muhammad, rated by ESPN as the No. 2 high school prospect in the 2012 recruiting class, might have been one of the first names called.
Instead, the former Bruin waited for over an hour Thursday night in the bowels of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., the site of this year’s NBA draft, where he was eventually selected as the No. 14 overall pick by the Utah Jazz. Muhammad’s signing rights will be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal involving former Michigan point guard Trey Burke.
After sitting out the first three games of his freshman season at UCLA amid an NCAA investigation involving possibly illegal benefits while he was in high school, Muhammad went on to average a team-high 17.9 points per game, earning him an All-Pac-12 first team selection and co-Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors.
In Minnesota, Muhammad will join another former Bruin, power forward/center Kevin Love, who was selected with the No. 5 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, as well as 2009’s No. 5 overall pick, point guard Ricky Rubio.
Moments after being drafted, Muhammad expressed his excitement at heading to what he believes will be a talented team in the Timberwolves.
“I want to work hard, I want to be the best,” Muhammad said in an interview with ESPN’s Shane Battier. “I want to be drafted, but I want to make my team a playoff team and, like I said, Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, a whole bunch of beasts in there, I think we’ll be a really terrific team.”
With his selection Thursday, Muhammad, who scored 20 or more points in 13 games last season, became the first UCLA player to be drafted in the first round since Jrue Holiday was taken No. 17 overall by Philadelphia in 2009.
Compiled by Andrew Erickson, Bruin Sports senior staff.
Correction: Shabazz Muhammad was the fourth true freshman taken in the 2013 NBA Draft.