LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 1, 2010) – Former Saint Francis men's basketball player
Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) was drafted by the Tulsa 66ers during the 2010 NBA D-League Draft, which was held on Monday evening.
Sweetney was taken with the fourth pick of the fourth round by the Tulsa 66ers, which is an affiliate of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. Sweetney will report to Tulsa on Friday, and camp begins on Sunday.
“Words can't describe the feeling that I have right now,” said Sweetney, who played for the Red Flash from 2006-07 through 2009-10. “It's been a rough journey for me, but I'm excited that all of my hard work has paid off. Tulsa is definitely one of the better teams in the D-League. They are a good, young organization affiliated with the Thunder, who are a team that gets up and down the floor. They win and do things the right way. Whatever they want from me, I'm going to do it.”
Sweetney is one of just three players in Saint Francis men's basketball history to accrue 1,500 points and 750 rebounds, joining the legendary Maurice Stokes and Sandy Williams. Sweetney finished seventh on SFU's all-time scoring list (1,526 points) and was 12th in rebounds (754).
“The entire Red Flash men's basketball family is proud of, and happy for, Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist),” said Saint Francis men's basketball coach Don Friday. “This is a young man who has his undergraduate degree, and now has a chance to play basketball after college. We wish him well in his career. There are a lot of Tulsa 66er fans in central Pennsylvania tonight.”
During Monday night's draft, the 66ers also drafted Villanova's Scottie Reynolds (first round), Kentucky's Perry Stevenson (second), Baylor's Josh Lomers (third), Virginia's Mamadi Diane (fifth), and Alabama State's Brandon Brooks (sixth) with two rounds remaining in the draft.
Tying an all-time high, 63 players with NBA Development League experience highlight 2010-11 NBA opening day rosters. That number equaled the previous high of 63 featured on 2009-10 NBA start-of-season rosters. In just four years, the number of former NBA D-League players on NBA start-of-season rosters has nearly doubled, going from 35 on opening day in 2006-07 to 63 today.
The Tulsa 66ers have had some luck developing players for NBA rosters. Byron Mullens (Oklahoma City), D.J. White (Oklahoma City), Brandon Bass (Orlando), Gary Forbes (Denver), Ersan Ilvasova (Milwaukee), Shaun Livingston (Charlotte) and Ramon Sessions (Cleveland) are all former 66ers on NBA opening day rosters.
The Tulsa 66ers will open their 2010-11 season Nov. 19 at Bakersfield, which is affiliated with the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.
For periodic men's basketball updates on Twitter, follow Director of Athletic Communications Bob Volkert at SFUVolkert.
