Cheick Diallo is only KU player taken in draft

The college career spanned only 202 minutes on the hardwood, a nondescript spell during which a high-profile Division I basketball recruit spent the majority of his time on the Kansas bench.

But the next level opts for future projections rather than past affairs.

And while Cheick Diallo may have lacked on-court time at KU, he possesses upside. Or at least the New Orleans Pelicans deemed as much.

The Los Angeles Clippers selected Diallo with the No. 33 pick of the NBA Draft on Thursday night, though a proposed trade will send him to New Orleans, ESPN reported.

Diallo, a 6-9 power forward, strolled across the stage wearing a white suit and a red bow tie at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"He just plays his tail off all the time — he blocks shots around the rim, he offensive rebounds," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said on the telecast. "He played very well at the combine.'"

Diallo averaged just 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in his only season at Kansas. He was the only Jayhawk chosen Thursday. Wayne Selden and Brannen Greene also departed Lawrence early to enter the NBA Draft. Perry Ellis was in the draft after completing his college eligibility. Players not chosen in the draft are free to negotiate with teams.

Diallo provided the least collegiate impact of the bunch after his KU career was delayed until December by an inquiry into his NCAA eligibility.

His NBA career could be delayed, too, but for entirely different reasoning. Diallo is seen as a long-term project rather than a quick fix, with an offensive repertoire in need of more polishing after his limited experience last season.

But the NBA Draft is an opportunity to eye the long-term future — with combine metrics as important as any points, rebounds or assists statistics. Before the Philadelphia 76ers took to the podium to take LSU forward Ben Simmons with the top overall pick, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas cracked a joke Thursday that viewers of the draft are taking a swig of alcoholic beverages each time he used the word "wingspan."

That term tops the strengths of Diallo, whose wingspan of 7 feet, 4 1/2 inches rated second longest among those measured during the combine.

“When people are drafting him like they do a lot of guys, at least from my understanding, they draft so much where he’s going to project out to be two or three or four years down the road,” Kansas coach Bill Self said before the draft. “Certainly, he’d have to have one of the higher ceilings of anybody in the draft when you look at it down the road.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Cheick Diallo is only KU player taken in draft."