New York ? Former Kansas University basketball players Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison have hit the lottery — NBA-style.
Hinrich, a 6-foot-3 guard from Sioux City, Iowa, was tapped No. 7 overall by the Chicago Bulls in Thursday’s NBA draft at Madison Square Garden; the 6-10 Collison, an Iowa Falls, Iowa, native, was selected No. 12 by the Seattle SuperSonics.
The top 13 picks in the draft constitute the lucrative “lottery picks.”
“I can’t be happier,” said Hinrich, who will make $1,821,600 next season, then $1,958,200 and $2,094,900 the following two seasons. “It’s a dream I’ve had all my life. I think that I’m going to go in there with the right attitude and make it work out.”
Collison, meanwhile, will earn $1,315,200 his first season, $1,413,900 the next and $1,512,500 his third season. The NBA teams have the options for the fourth season.
“I think there is definitely some opportunity to play there,” Collison said. “But you have to earn it. It’s the NBA now and every guy is very good, and they are all fighting for jobs.”
Kansas last had two players taken in the first round in 1998, when Denver took Raef LaFrentz with the third pick and Boston took Paul Pierce with the 10th.