NEW YORK, N.Y. – For the second-consecutive year, Santa Clara men's basketball has produced a first round selection in the NBA Draft. This year it is Brandin Podziemski, the 2022-23 WCC Co-Player of the Year, who was picked 19th overall by the Golden State Warriors.
Podziemski joins last year's 12th overall selection, Jalen Williams, to give the Broncos back-to-back first round picks over the last two drafts. Santa Clara is one of just three current WCC schools to produce back-to-back first rounders in NBA Draft history, joining Gonzaga and San Francisco.
Podziemski is Santa Clara's third draft pick since 1996 behind Williams and NBA Legend Steve Nash. All were first round selections. He is the program's 28th overall NBA Draft selection and the sixth to go in the first round.
Staying put in the Bay ��@brandinpodziem2 becomes our second straight top-20 pick ������#StampedeAhead x #ScoCosToThePros pic.twitter.com/Gc8HdyvkmE
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) June 23, 2023
Podziemski was the first West Coast Conference player taken off the board in 2023 NBA Draft, and one of two total to go in the first round (Gonzaga's Julian Strawther). It is the first time since 2001 that a WCC team other than Gonzaga was the first to have a player selected.
This is the first time since 1985-86 that the Broncos have had a selection in back-to-back NBA Drafts. Nick Vanos was selected in the second round in 1985 and was followed by Harold Keeling (3rd round) and Steve Kenilvort (7th round) in 1986.
A native of Greenfield, Wisc., Podziemski's lone season with the Broncos could not have gone much better. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged just shy of 20 points per game at 19.9 and was the WCC's top rebounder at 8.8 boards per game while also dishing out a team-best 3.7 assists. He was one of just three players in NCAA Division I to average 19/8/3 this season.
Putting up eye-popping numbers throughout the season, Podziemski finished with four 30-point games, 15 games with 20 or more points, and 29 double-figure scoring efforts. He led the WCC with 13 double-doubles – the most by a Bronco since John Bryant's 15 in 2008-09 – and had a season-high of 38 points against Pacific, which is tied for the 10th-highest scoring game in program history. He pulled down a career-best 18 rebounds as part of a double-double in SCU's regular season home finale against Pepperdine. His best assist count was nine, which was one shy of giving him a triple-double in the WCC Tournament vs. San Francisco.
At season's end, Podziemski was honored as both the Co-Player and Newcomer of the Year in the WCC, was a first team All-WCC and All-Region selection, and a finalist for the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award.
Podziemski joins the elite company of Ken Sears (4th in 1955), Jalen Williams (12th in 2022), Dick O'Keefe (9th in 1947), Bud Ogden (13th in 1969) and Steve Nash (15th in 1996) as first round selections to come out of Santa Clara.
