More history for Auburn, Walker Kessler selected No. 22 in NBA Draft
AUBURN – You want more Auburn basketball history? You got it.
On the same night that Jabari Smith was taken third overall in the NBA Draft, a program first, his teammate Walker Kessler helped make more history.
The 7-foot Kessler was selected No. 22 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2022 NBA Draft held in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday night.
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“A lot of people second guessed him and didn’t think he was good enough,” Bruce Pearl said following the draft. “His teammates at Auburn believed in him and empowered him. He delivered in a huge way. I felt like Walker effected the game as much as any player in college basketball. He dominated the rim on both ends of the floor. He’s a pro, he trains like a pro — he’s a NBA center. We’re pleased for him. Two in the top 22!”
That’s the first time in the history of the Tigers’ basketball program that two players have been selected in the first round of the same draft.
“Walker improved a lot,” Pearl said. “His body started to get fresh and his body got jumping and alive. When that happened, he started to play really well. There’s no question he improved a great deal from the summer through the season.”
The duo of Smith and Kessler have become the first teammates to be drafted together in the first round in program history – ninth-ever teammates (any round) along with J.T. Thor and Sharife Cooper in 2021, Mamadou N’Diaye and Chris Porter in 2000, Chris Morris, Jeff Moore and Mike Jones in 1988, Frank Ford and Gerald White in 1987, Charles Barkley and Greg Turner in 1984, Darrell Lockhart and Odell Mosteller in 1983, Earl Banks and Bobby Cattage in 1981, and Mike Mitchell and Stan Pietkiewicz in 1978.
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Auburn will have had a player drafted for the fourth-consecutive year (since 2019) – six overall including Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler. Before that stretch, a player from Auburn had not been drafted since 2001 (18 years).
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After transferring from North Carolina to Auburn, Kessler produced the most dominant defensive season in the history of Auburn basketball. Kessler blocked a program-record 155 shots, including 14 games of five blocks or more, and two games of double-digit blocks, both of which came against SEC competition. Kessler averaged 11.4 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game.
According to Torvik analytics, Kessler was the nation’s most efficient shot blocker, and had the fourth-best Box Plus/Minus in the nation at +13.8, meaning only three players in college basketball meant more to their team while on the floor than Kessler.
Kessler earned All-American honors and was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year while helping Auburn to a SEC regular season title and 28-6 overall record.
ESPN’s analysis of Walker Kessler
From Jonathan Givony of ESPN:
Twin Towers lineups are becoming more in vogue these days with the success that teams like Boston and Cleveland had with bigger lineups this season. For a Minnesota team looking to take the next step defensively, drafting the NCAA’s Defensive Player of the Year could make some sense, even if that means playing Kessler alongside a super-skilled 7-footer in Karl-Anthony Towns. Kessler is a force as a rim protector but also brings strong pick-and-roll finishing ability and even some potential as a perimeter shooter. Kessler is a steady offensive presence with his ability to catch difficult passes, hammer home lobs, finish with touch around the basket and make good decisions out of short rolls, which should make him a good fit in Minnesota’s offense.
