BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Former Gonzaga standout Corey Kispert was selected as the 15th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards Thursday.
 
Kispert was the second Gonzaga player taken in the draft Thursday. Earlier in the draft, Jalen Suggs was selected fifth by the Orlando Magic. It's only the second time that GU had two players drafted in the first round. In 2019, Rui Hachimura was drafted ninth by the Washington Wizards, before Brandon Clarke was selected 21st by the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's only the fourth time that two Zags were selected in the same NBA Draft. In 2017, Zach Collins was taken by the Sacramento Kings with the 10th overall pick, before being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, and Nigel Williams-Goss was selected 55th by the Utah Jazz. Howard Burford (11th round, 171st pick Portland Trail Blazers) and Bill Quigg (15th round, 219th pick, San Diego Rockets) were the only other Bulldogs to achieve the feat in 1971.
 
Kispert was named the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year in 2020-21, averaging 18.6 points a game and 5.0 rebounds. He finished the season sixth in Division I, shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc. He was also fifth in the country in total points (595), seventh in three-point field goals made (91), and eighth in total field goals made (209).
 
Kispert was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and was a consensus First Team All-American. Kispert was named a Senior CLASS All-American, and First Team All-American by the Associated Press, NABC and USBWA. Additionally, he was a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, Naismith Trophy, Lute Olson Award, and John R. Wooden Award.
 
Kispert played in 137 games during his collegiate career at GU, and he won 126 of those contests. He is the winningest Div. 1 college basketball player in the last 25 years for student-athletes that appeared in at least 100 games. Kispert ended his Bulldog career tied for third in program history with 126 wins. He ranks fourth all-time at GU with 270 made three-pointers in his career, and 12th with 1,586 points.
 
Kispert recently was named the 2020-21 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for Division I Men's Basketball, headlining the Academic All-America Division I men's basketball team. A native of Edmonds, Wash., he was also named the Mike Gilleran Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was tabbed Academic All-WCC for three straight seasons.
 
Kispert was the 11th Zag to be drafted in the first round, joining John Stockton in 1984 (16th overall pick, Utah Jazz), Dan Dickau in 2002 (28th overall pick, Sacramento Kings), Adam Morrison in 2006 (3rd overall pick, Charlotte Bobcats), Austin Daye in 2009 (15th overall pick, Detroit Pistons), Kelly Olynyk in 2013 (13th overall pick, Dallas Mavericks), Domantas Sabonis in 2016 (11th overall pick, Orlando Magic), Collins in 2017, Hachimura and Clarke in 2019, and Suggs tonight. Ian Mahinmi was a first round pick and 28th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in 2005. Mahinmi had signed a letter-of-intent to attend Gonzaga for the 2005-06 season, but never enrolled in school.
 
Kispert is the 26th GU player selected in the NBA Draft all-time, and the 14th under Head Coach Mark Few.