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NEW YORK (AP) -- Former U of U basketball player Andrew Bogut was the NBA Draft pick Tuesday, and Utah Jazz have landed Illinois guard Deron Williams with the number-three pick.
Bogut, the 7-footer from Australia was chosen first Tuesday night in the NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, becoming the first player in five years with U.S. college experience to be drafted No. 1 overall.
The 20-year-old Bogut, who played two seasons at Utah and was the college player of the year, straightened his tie, adjusted his suit jacket and took a deep breath in the moments before commissioner David Stern summoned him to the podium onstage at Madison Square Garden. When his name was called, Bogut raised a clenched right fist.
Utah is the first school to have players picked first in both the NBA and NFL drafts in the same year. Quarterback Alex Smith was drafted No. 1 by the San Francisco 49ers in April.
Milwaukee had been debating whether to take Bogut or North Carolina small forward Marvin Williams with the franchise's first overall No. 1 pick since 1994, when the Bucks selected Glenn Robinson. In the end, the lure of a versatile, athletic 7-footer with Olympic experience was too much to pass up.
Bogut was the consensus National Player of the Year last season after averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds and nearly two blocks a game for Utah. He's one of just three Utah players to score at least one-thousand points in his first two years. He scored one-thousand-126 points, averaging 16 and a-half in his two seasons with the Utes.
Bogut was second in the nation in rebounding average last season after finishing 15th as a freshman. He was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year and a second-team All-Conference selection in 2004.
The seven-footer started five games for the Australian Olympic Team in Greece, averaging 14-point-eight points and eight-point-eight boards. A year earlier, he was the M-V-P of the FIBA (FEE'-bah) Junior World Championships, leading the Aussies to the title.
Bogut was a career 60-percent shooter in college, and hit 36 percent of his three-point tries.
Choosing second in the draft, the Atlanta Hawks took North Carolina forward Marvin Williams.
The Utah Jazz have landed Illinois guard Deron (DEHR'-ehn) Williams with the number-three pick in tonight's N-B-A draft.
Williams gave up his senior season at Illinois after helping the Illini get to the N-C-A-A title game. He paced the Big Ten and was eleventh nationally in assists as a junior, averaging six-point-eight. He set a school record with 264 assists last season, including a career-high 12 against Penn State.
Williams sparked the Illini's comeback win over Arizona in the N-C-A-A Regional Finals, finishing with 22 points and ten rebounds. He also had 17 points and seven assists in the title-game loss to North Carolina.
The six-three Williams earned consensus second-team All-America honors last season and was the Most Outstanding Player of the Chicago Regional. He also earned a spot on the Final Four All-Tournament Team and is the only player to lead the Big Ten in assists his first three seasons.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
