Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest's Johnson and Teague Taken in First Round of NBA Draft
6/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 25, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest's James Johnson and Jeff Teague became the first Demon Deacon pair to be selected in the first round of the same NBA Draft. Johnson and Teague were each selected in the top 19 picks of the 2009 NBA Draft on Thursday evening at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Johnson, a 6-9 forward, was chosen by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th pick, while Teague, a 6-2 guard, went three picks later to the Atlanta Hawks.
"I'm very happy for James and Jeff and both of their families," said Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio. "I'm very appreciative of their parents entrusting our coaching staff with their sons the last two years. We are happy to have helped these two young men fulfill their dreams. We wish them the very best and will follow their professional careers very closely. They join a long line of successful Wake Forest alumni in the NBA."
Johnson is the 10th-highest drafted Deacon ever, while Teague is tied for the 12th-highest.
Johnson is the first Deacon ever drafted by the Bulls. He will become just the fourth Deacon ever to suit up for Chicago, joining Len Chappell (1967), Rusty LaRue (1998-2000) and Darius Songaila (2006). LaRue was a member of the Bulls' 1998 NBA Championship squad.
Teague is the first-ever Deacon drafted by the Hawks. He is set to become only the second Deacon to ever play in Atlanta, joining Chappell who played there in 1971.
This marks the first NBA Draft since 1984 where two Wake Forest players were selected. In 1984, Wake's Danny Young and Anthony Teachey were taken with back-to-back picks by the Seattle Supersonics and Dallas Mavericks in the second round.
Wake Forest has also had two or more players drafted in 1971 (Gil McGregor, Charlie Davis), 1977 (Skip Brown, Jerry Schellenberg), 1978 (Rod Griffin, Leroy McDonald), 1982 (Guy Morgan, Jim Johnstone, Mike Helms) and 1985 (Kenny Green, Delaney Rudd).
The last Deacon to be drafted into the NBA was point guard Chris Paul, who was taken by the New Orleans Hornets with the fourth overall selection of the 2005 Draft.
Johnson and Teague will join four other Deacon alumni currently playing in the NBA. In addition to Paul with the Hornets, Wake alums include Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks and Darius Songaila of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Johnson played in 61 games during his two-year Deacon career, making a total of 59 starts. A two-time third team All-ACC pick, Johnson averaged 14.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for his career. He left Wake Forest with 903 career points and 508 career rebounds.
This past season, Johnson led the Deacons and ranked third in the ACC with 8.5 rebounds per game. The Cheyenne, Wyo. native also ranked among the conference leaders in defensive rebounds (6.0, 2nd), field goal percentage (.542, 4th), double-doubles (10, 4th), blocks (1.5, 6th) and scoring (15.0, 17th).
Johnson was the runner-up for the 2008 ACC Rookie of the Year Award after leading the Deacons in both scoring and rebounding in 2007-08.
Teague played in 61 games during his two-year Wake Forest career and made a total of 52 starts. The Indianapolis native scored exactly 1,000 points and dished out 184 assists in his career.
In 2008-09, Teague was a second team All-ACC selection after leading the Deacons with 18.8 points per game and 110 assists. He was named to the All-America second team by the Sporting News and by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, becoming the 13th All-American in program history.
