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DARRELL MIHO / MARCH 10
Hawaii’s Stefan Jankovic took a shot against Cal State Fullerton’s Jamar Akoh during a quarterfinal game at the Big West Tournament.
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Hawaii basketball ended its NCAA Tournament drought in 2016, but its long run of having no players selected in the NBA Draft was extended another year.
UH’s top pro prospect, big man Stefan Jankovic, was not selected among 60 picks on Thursday at the Barclays Center in New York. Jankovic watched the proceedings with friends and family in Los Angeles.
He and the Rainbow Warriors’ other pro prospects — Aaron Valdes, Roderick Bobbitt and Quincy Smith — may pursue free-agent opportunities as well as spots on NBA teams’ summer league rosters. The summer league begins in Orlando, Fla., (July 2-8) but also runs in Utah (July 4-7) and Las Vegas (July 8-18).
Neither Jankovic nor his agent, Rade Filipovich, could be reached for comment after the draft. Earlier in the week, the Big West Player of the Year was optimistic he’d be taken but had told the Star-Advertiser “the whole ‘undrafted (or) drafted,’ it’s more so making a team right now.”
After the 2015-16 season, Jankovic and Valdes decided to forego their final season of eligibility in Manoa and enter the draft. However, both said they were prepared to play overseas.
UH has not had a player drafted in men’s basketball since Reggie Cross went in the second round in 1989.
Five players the Rainbow Warriors faced in 2015-16 went in this draft. They were: California’s Jaylen Brown, No. 3 to Boston; Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, No. 6 to New Orleans; Maryland’s Diamond Stone, No. 40 to New Orleans; Maryland’s Jake Layman, No. 47 to Orlando; and Oklahoma’s Isaiah Cousins, No. 59 to Sacramento.
