First-round NBA draft picks aren't an every-year occurrence in Iowa

Thursday night, Iowa State can take a 9-8 lead over Iowa in all-time first-round NBA draft choices if Royce White is taken in Round 1.

That's over a half-century of NBA first-rounds, so, not very many first-rounders for either.

And in reality, it should be a 9-9 tie because Iowa's Don Nelson was a third-round pick in 1962, but was the 17th player taken overall. That would have made him a solid first-rounder for the last 40 years.

Iowa's last first-rounder was Ricky Davis in 1998. It hasn't had what you could call a lottery pick (first 14 selections) since Ronnie Lester went 10th in 1980.

As I type this, I realize it could sound more and more negative to the Hawkeyes. But when you stop and think about it, there simply haven't been very many players of impact in the NBA that came from Iowa or Iowa State. I'm not talking about players who simply spent several years in the league. I mean guys who averaged double-figures in scoring, guys who helped teams to championships or at least title-contention.

Here are Iowa's all-time leading NBA scorers (by average):

Fred Brown 13 seasons, 14.6 points per game

Ricky Davis 12 seasons, 13.5

John Johnson 12 seasons, 12.9

Don Nelson 14 seasons, 10.3

B.J. Armstrong 11 seasons, 9.8

Kevin Gamble 10 seasons, 9.5

Kevin Kunnert 9 seasons, 8.3

I didn't count Connie Hawkins as being from Iowa since he never played a game for the Hawkeyes while he was in the program.

Nelson played on five NBA title teams, Armstrong three, Brown and Johnson one.

Here are Iowa State's all-time leading NBA scorers:

Jeff Hornacek 14 seasons, 14.5 points per game

Marcus Fizer 6 seasons, 9.6

Jamaal Tinsley 9 seasons, 9.3

Don Smith (Zaid Abdul-Aziz) 10 seasons, 9.0

Victor Alexander 5 seasons, 8.9

If I'm missing anyone who averaged 9 points or more in NBA play or who was a first-rounder that I excluded, let me know and I'll make the change here ASAP.

Iowa's first-round draftees were:

John Johnson, 7th overall, 1970

Fred Brown, 6th, 1971

Kevin Kunnert 12th, 1973

Ronnie Lester 10th, 1980

B.J. Armstrong 18th, 1987

Roy Marble 23rd, 1987

Acie Earl 19th, 1993

Ricky Davis 21st, 1998

Iowa State's:

Don Smith 5th, 1968

Jeff Grayer 13th, 1988

Victor Alexander 17th, 1991

Loren Meyer 24th, 1995

Kelvin Cato 15th, 1997

Marcus Fizer 4th, 2000

Jamaal Tinsley 27th, 2001

Craig Brackins 21st, 2010

Drake's Willie Wise averaged 19.2 points in seven seasons in the ABA. Drake had one first-round draft pick, Willie McCarter. He went 12th in 1969. However, McCoy McLemore was the 23rd player taken in 1965 and Bob Netolicky of Cedar Rapids was the 18th pick in 1967. Netolicky opted to go to the ABA, where he averaged 16.0 points over nine seasons.