The Philadelphia 76ers draft Tyrese Maxey with the No. 21 pick

Former Kentucky star guard Tyrese Maxey has been selected by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Selected No. 21 overall, the 6-foot-3 guard out of Garland, Texas is the first former Wildcat off the board.

Sitting next to his parents, Maxey got emotional when talking about his new team and the opportunity.

“I thank Philadelphia for this opportunity,” he said. “I promise you it won’t be a regret.”

#LaFamilia connection between @TyreseMaxey and @RajonRondo. Emotional #NBADraft moment!

The @NBA dream.#BuiltDifferent x #SucceedAndProceed pic.twitter.com/ctxf54FlJ3

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 19, 2020

Immanuel Quickley, Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards, EJ Montgomery and Kahlil Whitney are Kentucky’s other draft-eligible prospects in tonight’s NBA Draft. Quickley is seen as a potential late-first/early-second round selection, while Hagans and Richards are seen as mid-to-late second round options. Montgomery and Whitney are expected to go undrafted.

In Maxey’s lone season at Kentucky, the former five-star prospect was named to the All-SEC Second Team (coaches) and to the SEC All-Freshman Team, among other accolades such as SEC Freshman of the Week (three times), NCAA March Madness National Player of the Week and U.S. Basketball Writers Association Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of Week.

Maxey finished the year averaging 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest, leading UK’s guards in rebounds, finishing second on the team in points, 3-point field goals (33), free-throw percentage (83.3%), steals and assists. He also posted 22 games in double figures with a team-high three games with 25 or more points and averaged a team-high 19.0 points per game to go along with 5.3 boards per outing while shooting 43.4% from the field, 37.0% from 3 and 84.4% from the free-throw line in UK’s six games against AP Top 25 foes.