Utah Flash Take Kruger with First Draft Selection
November 1, 2007 - NBA G League (G League)
Utah Flash News Release
OREM, Utah, Nov. 1, 2007 - The expansion Utah Flash used the first selection (10th overall) in its inaugural NBA Development League Draft to take former UNLV point guard Kevin Kruger.
The 6-2, 185-pound Kruger was the final player released in this year's Orlando Magic training camp after averaging 13.5 points, a Mountain West Conference leading 5.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds as a senior at UNLV. Swing player Michael Cuffee of Middle Tennessee State was the second player taken by the Flash (19th overall), followed by guard Aleksander Ugrinoski (38th overall) from Southern Illinois.
Cuffee played for the Oklahoma Storm in the USBL this past summer, averaging 15.6 points and 3.6 rebounds. He has also played professionally in Finland and Denmark. Urgrinoski has played professionally in Austria and his native Croatia. He played in 2007 Nike World Hoop Summit as a member of the World Select Team.
"Our first pick couldn't have worked out better for us. Kevin is a solid player, a player who knows the game inside-out and makes his teammates better," Flash general manager David Fredman said. "We came into the draft wanting to get more athletic, and I believe we accomplished that with the players we selected."
Rounding out Utah's draft were forward Lamar Rice (4th round, 47th overall), forward Isma'il Muhammad (5th round, 66th overall), forward Trayvon Lathan (6th round, 75th overall), guard Andre Ingram (7th round, 99th overall), guard Dwayne Shackleford (8th round, 103rd overall), guard Garry Hill-Thomas (9th round, 122nd overall) and guard Tyree Jones (10th round, 131st overall).
The 10 players selected in the draft will join centers James Lang (6-10, 285, Central Park Christian High School) and Jeff Hagen (7-0, 270, Minnesota), forwards Brian Jackson (6-9, 245, Oregon State) and Butter Johnson (6-8, 215, Charlotte), who were selected in the D-League Expansion Draft in September. Also invited to training camp are forwards John Milsap (6-6, 220, Texas-San Antonio) and Brian Hamilton (6-6, 193, Louisiana-Lafayette) from the Flash open tryout, as well as allocated point guard Steven Barnes ( 5-10, 160, Southern Utah).
Following are the round-by-round selections for the Flash in the 2007 NBA D-League Draft:
Rd Pick Player Pos Ht Wt College
1 10 Kevin Kruger PG 6-2 185 UNLV
2 19 Michael Cuffee G/F 6-5 200 Middle Tennessee State
3 38 Aleksander Ugrinoski PG 6-4 195 Southern Illinois/Croatia
4 47 Lamar Rice F 6-7 210 Georgetown (Ky.)
5 66 Isma'il Muhammad F 6-6 228 Georgia Tech
6 75 Trayvon Lathan F 6-6 200 Chowan
7 99 Andre Ingram G 6-3 190 American
8 103 Dwayne Shackleford G 5-10 185 Southern California
9 122 Garry Hill-Thomas G 6-4 200 Nevada
10 131 Tyree Jones G 5-11 175 Eastern Oregon
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