Four players with ties to the Palmetto State were taken in Thursday night's NBA draft. Three of the four were South Carolina natives, the other a North Carolina native who played at an in-state school. While the destination ends up being the same, in terms of all four going to the top league in the world, the journey was much different.
Two of the four were one and done players in college, the other two were 5th year seniors. Spartanburg native and former Dorman star Noah Clowney was the first of the four taken, going in the 1st round at #21 overall to the Nets. The 6ft 10 Forward is the modern type of big man, who excels in pick and pop situations and can knock down shots from deep. He averaged 10 points and 8 boards per game as a Freshman this past season, while being a 3rd or 4th option for a loaded Alabama team.
In what came as a surprise to some, Clemson standout Hunter Tyson was the 2nd player taken. Tyson was taken in the 2nd round at #37 overall by the defending NBA champs, the Denver Nuggets. The Monroe, NC native spent 5 years in Tigertown and had a monster season this past year. He impressed scouts in the pre-draft process which saw him rise from late 2nd round at best, to early 2nd round. Tyson will go into a winning situation in Denver, but minutes may be hard to come by for quite a while.
Gregory "GG" Jackson saw his stock plummet, as the former #1 high school player in the nation went 45th overall to Memphis. Reports from the pre-draft process was that Jackson was shaky and inconsistent in workouts. However, he could end up being a 2nd round steal. Jackson averaged 15 points and 6 boards per as a Freshman for the Gamecocks. That's even more impressive given that he was supposed to still be in high school. Jackson re-classified and came to college a year early, he's one of the youngest players in this class.
In contrast to Clowney and Jackson is Furman's Jalen Slawson. This year's SoCon Player Of The Year spent 5 seasons at Furman. The Summerville, SC native was not highly recruited by major in-state programs and averaged less than one point per game his freshman season for the Paladins. Slawson came back for an extra year of eligibility, taking advantage of the Covid year. He went 54th overall to the Sacramento Kings.