Grizzlies Pick Vasquez in First Round
6/24/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 24, 2010
NEW YORK, - University of Maryland All-American Greivis Vasquez, the Player of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, was taken Thursday by the Memphis Grizzlies as the 28th selection in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Vasquez, a 6-foot-6 point guard from Caracas, Venezuela, was the ninth first-rounder Gary Williams has coached at Maryland. Williams has had 10 players selected in the first round in his career overall.
Vasquez, the only player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to have at least 2,000 points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds, was the third selection of the Grizzlies in the first round. Memphis also selected Xavier Henry of Kansas and Dominique Jones of South Florida.
The winner of the 2010 Bob Cousy Award as the best collegiate point guard in the nation, Vasquez averaged 19.6 points, 6.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds as a senior for the Terrapins, who shared the ACC regular-season title. Maryland advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and posted a 24-9 overall record this season.
Vasquez is the first Terrapin selected in the first round of the draft since 2002, when Chris Wilcox and Juan Dixon were picked, respectively, by the Los Angeles Clippers and the Washington Wizards.
James Gist (2008, San Antonio), D.J. Strawberry (2007, Phoenix) and Steve Blake (2003, Washington) were Maryland's most recent selections in the NBA Draft, all taken on the second round.
Vasquez was a first team All-America selection by Sporting News and FoxSports.com. He finished second all-time at Maryland in scoring (2,171 points) and assists (772).
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