Kelsey Plum and Markelle Fultz make Washington the first school to ever produce the No. 1 picks in both drafts in the same year.
Two months ago, Kelsey Plum became the first Husky basketball player — male or female — to ever be selected No. 1 overall. On Thursday, Markelle Fultz became the second Husky to do it.
Plum, who was selected first in the WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars, cheered on her friend and fellow Husky Friday night, as Fultz went first overall in a star-studded NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers.
But while the duo became the first Huskies ever selected in the NBA or WNBA drafts, Plum and Fultz also make Washington the first school to ever produce the No. 1 picks in both drafts in the same year. Plum also was the fourth women’s basketball player from the Pac-12 Conference to go No. 1, while Fultz was the third men’s Pac-12 player to go first.
| First time for everything | |||
| With Fultz going No. 1 overall, it marks the first time the same school has had the top overall pick in the NBA and WNBA drafts in the same year. A look at three previous times one school came closest to pulling that off: | |||
| Year | School | WNBA | NBA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | UConn | Sue Bird (No. 1 overall | Caron Butler (No. 10 overall) |
| 2004 | UConn | Diana Taurasi (No. 1 overall) | Emeka Okafor (No. 2 overall) |
| 2009 | Louisville | Angel McCoughtry (No. 1 overall) | Terrence Williams (No. 11 overall) |
After setting the women’s college scoring record in four years with UW, Plum is off to a slow start as a pro, averaging 3.7 points and 1.4 assists per game in her young WNBA career. Plum, who got to experience the pomp and circumstance of being a No. 1 pick in April, had some advice for Fultz.
“You don’t really know what’s going on, and at times that may feel stressful, but as soon as you’re with (a team), it’s different,” Plum said in an interview with ESPN this week. “It’s a new phase of your life, so don’t take for granted the phase that you’re in now. Appreciate every bit of the moment because it only happens once.”
The two are expected to be dynamic scorers at the next level, but their roots with Washington are with them forever.
“I’m really proud to be able to say that I represent the University of Washington,” Plum told ESPN. “I really fell in love with the city of Seattle and everything it offers. I’m proud to represent it in any way I can, and I know Markelle feels the same way.”
Fultz echoed Plum’s sentiment.
“I don’t regret coming to Washington,” he told the Times’ Percy Allen. “It was better than I expected it would be. Some people may not believe that, but I do.”
“My favorite times (at UW) really had nothing to do with the games or anything like that,” Fultz continued. “We had some fun games, but honestly my best time was probably the overseas trip to Australia when everything was just so new and we were getting to know each other.”