Trio of Big 12 Players Selected in First Round of NBA Draft

With West Virginia’s Javon Small still waiting to hear his name called, three Big 12 players selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft nonetheless.

This marks the 26th consecutive year the Big 12 has produced a first-round draft pick and the 12th straight draft day with multiple first-rounders from the Conference, while it is the first time since 2014 the Big 12 had three lottery picks.

Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe was selected third overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, making it five consecutive years that a BU player was picked in the first round. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year, he becomes the highest draft selection from the Conference since Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State/Detroit) went first overall in 2021, and the highest Baylor player ever selected.

BYU’s Egor Demin was picked by the Brooklyn Nets with the eighth overall selection. The Big 12 All-Freshman team selection is the first Cougar selected in the lottery since Jimmer Fredette in 2011, and the first since BYU joined the Big 12 for the 2023-24 season.

Arizona’s Carter Bryant, who was taken 14th overall by the San Antonio Spurs, finished the Big 12’s first trio of lottery picks since Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Joel Embiid (Kansas) and Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State). Bryant is the fifth first-round pick from Arizona in the 2020s, and the first since 2022.

The NBA Draft concludes Thursday with the second round.

Most of this story was taken from the Big 12 press release.

For a related story, Javon Small shared his thoughts about an NBA opportunity.