Bruised Egos: Gifted Cockburn, Gillespie & Juzang Join List of Undrafted A-As
All-Americans Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Collin Gillespie (Villanova) and Johnny Juzang (UCLA) weren't among the chosen few in this year's NBA draft. Of course, the NBA is a difficult nut to crack. Although this gifted trio sported great credentials, there was no guarantee they would be selected this year; primarily because of the continued emphasis on international players.
With or without a college diploma in tow, were misguided undergrads thinking with same adeptness as embarrassment-to-village-idiots Jussie Smollett? Were they as delusional as compromised Congressman Adam "Shifty" Schiff exhibiting his impeachment expertise getting punked by Russian prankster? Denied sneaker honorariums during an FBI probe, undrafted scholars may be swayed to join lunatic leftist leeches seeking reparations from NBA "owners" or boycotting "one-percenter" NBA foreigners stealing their jobs. Amid truly smelly progressive puke convulsing after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death left vacancy on Supreme Court impacting bloodthirsty #PlannedMurderhood obsession with butchering innocent babies in womb, it could blossom into one of those get in line behind the other kneeling mindless "diverse" robot routines and stand by for further "Strzok-out" instruction.
Cockburn is among 17 NCAA consensus All-Americans to go undrafted in a 13-season span. Do you need any more evidence that the quality of play at the collegiate level has diminished in recent years? The NBA draft was reduced to seven rounds in 1985, three rounds in 1988 and to its present two rounds in 1989. Centers Bill Spivey of Kentucky and Sherman White of LIU, All-Americans in the early 1950s, went undrafted by the NBA allegedly because of possible repercussions stemming from a game-fixing scandal. A total of 46 All-Americans, five in 2011, have gone undrafted by the NBA thus far in the 21st Century.
Eleven years ago, Sherron Collins (Kansas) and Scottie Reynolds (Villanova) became the initial NCAA consensus first-team All-Americans not to be selected in the NBA draft. Cockburn joined Collins and Chris Lofton (Tennessee) as two-time NCAA consensus A-As failing to be drafted. They're not a motley crew as new Duke coach Jon Scheyer is among the following alphabetical list of All-Americans who weren't selected in an NBA draft:
| Undrafted All-American | Pos. | School | A-A Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Bell | G | Michigan State | 2001 |
| Joel Berry II | G | North Carolina | 2018 |
| Trevon Bluiett | G | Xavier | 2018** |
| Melvin Booker | G | Missouri | 1994** |
| Joe Capua | G | Wyoming | 1956 |
| Chris Clemons | G | Campbell | 2019 |
| Kofi Cockburn | F-C | Illinois | 2021** and 2022* |
| Sherron Collins | G | Kansas | 2009** and 2010* |
| Mike Daum | F | South Dakota State | 2019 |
| Devon Dotson | G | Kansas | 2020** |
| Erwin Dudley | F-C | Alabama | 2002 |
| Melvin Ejim | F | Iowa State | 2014** |
| Perry Ellis | F | Kansas | 2016 |
| Carl "C.J." Fair | F | Syracuse | 2014** |
| Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell | G | Indiana | 2016 |
| Jason Gardner | G | Arizona | 2002 and 2003** |
| Collins Gillespie | G | Villanova | 2021 and 2022 |
| Ben Hansbrough | G | Notre Dame | 2011** |
| Ethan Happ | F | Wisconsin | 2017 and 2019** |
| Udonis Haslem | C | Florida | 2001 and 2002 |
| Bobby Joe Hill | G | Texas Western | 1966 |
| Terrell "Tu" Holloway | G | Xavier | 2011 |
| Kevin Houston | G | Army | 1987 |
| Markus Howard | G | Marquette | 2020* |
| Keith "Mister" Jennings | G | East Tennessee State | 1991** |
| Kevin Jones | F | West Virginia | 2012** |
| Johnny Juzang | G | UCLA | 2022 |
| Sean Kilpatrick | G | Cincinnati | 2014** |
| Brandin Knight | G | Pittsburgh | 2002 |
| Cameron Krutwig | F | Loyola of Chicago | 2021 |
| Jock Landale | C-F | Saint Mary's | 2018** |
| Byron Larkin | G | Xavier | 1988 |
| Dedric Lawson | F | Kansas | 2019 |
| Chris Lofton | G | Tennessee | 2007** and 2008** |
| John Lucas III | G | Oklahoma State | 2004 |
| Billy McCaffrey | G | Vanderbilt | 1993** |
| Jerel McNeal | G | Marquette | 2009 |
| Johnathan Motley | F | Baylor | 2017 |
| DeMarcus Nelson | G-F | Duke | 2008 |
| Kevin Pittsnogle | F | West Virginia | 2006 |
| Myles Powell | G | Seton Hall | 2020* |
| Mike Pratt | F | Kentucky | 1974 |
| Hollis Price | G | Oklahoma | 2003** |
| Jacob Pullen | G | Kansas State | 2011 |
| Allan Ray | G | Villanova | 2006** |
| Dexter Reed | G | Memphis State | 1977 |
| Scottie Reynolds | G | Villanova | 2010* |
| Bill Ridley | G | Illinois | 1956 |
| Juan "Pepe" Sanchez | G | Temple | 2000 |
| Jon Scheyer | G | Duke | 2010** |
| Shea Seals | F-G | Tulsa | 1997 |
| Ron Slay | F | Tennessee | 2003 |
| Charles E. Smith | G | Georgetown | 1989 |
| Jordan Taylor | G | Wisconsin | 2011 |
| Seth Tuttle | F-C | Northern Iowa | 2015** |
| Jarrod Uthoff | F | Iowa | 2016 |
| Fred VanVleet | G | Wichita State | 2016 |
| Scottie Wilbekin | G | Florida | 2014 |
| Max Williams | G | Southern Methodist | 1960 |
| Kyle Wiltjer | F | Gonzaga | 2016 |
| Andre Woolridge | G | Iowa | 1997 |
*NCAA consensus first-team All-American.
**NCAA consensus second-team All-American.
NOTE: Half of the players on this list - Bell, Booker, Clemons, Collins, Dotson, Ferrell, Hansbrough, Haslem, Howard, Jennings, Jones, Kilpatrick, Landale, Lucas, McNeal, Motley, Powell, Ray, Sanchez, Smith, Uthoff, VanVleet and Wiltjer - went on to play in the NBA after signing as free agents. Pratt played in the ABA.