GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

MSU's Denzel Valentine goes to Chicago Bulls in 1st round of NBA Draft

Chris Solari

Lansing State Journal

Denzel Valentine wears a Chicago Bulls hat as he's interviewed at the NBA Draft on Thursday in Brooklyn, New York. Valentine became the 10th MSU senior to be taken in the NBA Draft during Tom Izzo's 21 seasons as head coach.

Denzel Valentine’s footsteps once again have followed Magic Johnson's.

From Lansing to Michigan State to a first-round NBA draft pick.

The Chicago Bulls selected the 22-year-old Sexton High grad Valentine with the No. 14 pick of Thursday night’s draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

"I was getting nervous there. Pick after pick, and you're just kind of sitting there wondering," Valentine told ESPN moments after being selected, wearing a Bulls hat atop his head. "I am just so glad I'm going to the Bulls. I'm going to give them my all, and I'm just glad to get this process going."

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound shooting guard averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game as a senior with the Spartans en route to winning six national player of the year awards. He is coach Tom Izzo’s ninth first-round draft pick during his 21 seasons at MSU.

Couch: Denzel Valentine's doctor says knee 'looks good'

Valentine joins Everett High's Johnson (1979), Eastern High's Jay Vincent (1981) and Sam Vincent (1985), Waverly High's Marcus Taylor (2002) and Everett's Goran Suton (2009) as players who went from Lansing high schools and then to MSU before becoming NBA Draft picks.

"Congratulations to Denzel Valentine!" Johnson tweeted. "The Bulls are getting a good all-around player that can do a little bit of everything!"

Izzo now has produced a draft pick for three straight seasons and 18 players selected during his tenure at MSU after Deyonta Davis was taken with the first pick of the second round Thursday. Adreian Payne (Atlanta) and Gary Harris (Chicago) were taken in the first round in 2014, and Branden Dawson (New Orleans) went in the second round a year ago. Both Harris (to Denver) and Dawson (to the Los Angeles Clippers) were part of draft-day trades.

Valentine becomes the 10th MSU senior to be drafted under Izzo and the fifth to be taken in the first round. Mateen Cleaves (Detroit) and Morris Peterson (Toronto) in 2000, Maurice Ager (Dallas) in 2006 and Payne are the others.