Gallon, Warren Picked in NBA Draft Second Round
Freshman and sophomore become third and fourth Sooners drafted in last two years.
NORMAN, Okla. - Former OU basketball teammates Tiny Gallon and Willie Warren were selected in the second round of Thursday night's NBA Draft. Gallon was taken No. 47 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks while Warren went to the Los Angeles Clippers with the No. 54 pick.
Gallon and Warren are the third and fourth Sooners drafted in the last two years, joining last year's No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin, who went to the Clippers, and his brother, Taylor, who went in the second round to Phoenix.
The 6-9, 290-pound Gallon played in 30 of the Sooners' 31 games this past year and averaged 10.3 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds in 24.0 minutes a contest. His rebounding average led all Big 12 freshmen (next highest average was 5.0) and ranked fourth in school history among freshmen (only Alvan Adams, Wayman Tisdale and Blake Griffin averaged more).
Gallon shot a team-high .547 from the field and .697 from the free throw line. He ranked sixth in the league (first among freshmen) with seven double-doubles.
OU head coach Jeff Capel, who is in San Antonio this week and next coaching the USA team in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, was pleased to see Gallon selected by the Bucks.
"I'm happy for Tiny," said Capel. "Milwaukee is getting a young player with a lot of talent. He is skilled, has great hands and a good feel for the game. If he is able to get in great condition, he could have a nice career in the NBA."
A high school All-American, Gallon led the 2009 McDonald's game in scoring with 20 points. In Milwaukee, he will be reunited with point guard and Oak Hill Academy teammate Brandon Jennings, an NBA All-Rookie Team selection last year.
The Bucks posted a 46-36 regular season record last year and finished sixth in the Eastern Conference. Former OU head coach Kelvin Sampson is a Milwaukee assistant coach.
Warren, a 6-4 guard, averaged 15.2 points and 3.5 assists per game over his two-year OU career and earned All-Big 12 honors both seasons. He was the unanimous choice as Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2008-09 when he was a second-team all-league pick, and picked up honorable mention all-conference honors in 2009-10.
"The Clippers are getting a really talented young man that had an unfortunate year due to injuries," Capel said of Warren. "I've always thought of Willie as a playmaker, and I think he will have the opportunity to showcase that ability this summer. Also, I think there will be a comfort level there with Blake already being out there. They formed a very good 1-2 punch a couple years ago and could possibly do the same in Los Angeles."
Said Blake Griffin, "I'm really happy to have Willie back as a teammate. We had a lot of fun and success together at OU. I think we got a steal."
This past season, Warren averaged a team-high 16.3 points to go along with 3.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.0 steal in 32.3 minutes a game. He missed 10 games on the year, eight of them due to an ankle injury that required season-ending surgery March 3.
Like Gallon, Warren was the leading scorer in the McDonald's All-American Game, scoring 23 points in the 2008 contest.
The Clippers finished with a 29-53 record last year. Blake Griffin missed the entire season due to a knee injury.
