Tennessee guard Jordan McRae (52) drives against Iowa in the first half of a first-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Dayton, Ohio.
Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes shoots during practice for the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal college basketball tournament game in Indianapolis.KNOXVILLE – Jordan McRae didn’t touch the cake.
The congratulatory dessert purchased for the NBA draft watch party in Midway, Ga., grew smaller as Thursday evening wore on. While family and friends of the former Tennessee shooting guard grew hungry, McRae’s stomach remained knotted.
“I couldn’t really eat anything,” he said in a telephone interview early Friday morning.
McRae followed along as the Utah Jazz selected former Volunteers teammate Jarnell Stokes 35th overall and promptly traded the power forward to the Memphis Grizzlies, Stokes’ hometown team. McRae posted a congratulatory message to Twitter, then waited.
As the remaining selections grew fewer, it appeared unlikely Tennessee would land multiple players in the same draft for the 10th time in school history. Then McRae’s name was called. He went to the wire, then to confusion.