Tennessee's Jordan Bone takes the ball up the floor during an NCAA tournament first-round game against Colgate on March 22 in Columbus, Ohio.KNOXVILLE - Jordan Bone became the third University of Tennessee basketball player to hear his name called Thursday during the NBA draft when he was selected with the 57th pick overall by the Atlanta Hawks, by way of a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bone's draft rights have been traded to the Detroit Pistons, according to multiple media reports.
The 6-foot-3 guard - who entered the draft pool with a season of college eligibility remaining - joined forward Grant Williams (No. 22, Boston Celtics) and guard Admiral Schofield (No. 42, Washington Wizards via trade with Philadelphia 76ers) as Volunteers drafted this year.
Bone was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection in 2018-19, averaging 13.5 points and 5.8 assists per game. He set a Tennessee single-season record for assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.91.
The Nashville native was considered a fringe prospect, but he turned some heads with his athleticism at the NBA combine in May by posting a 42.5-inch vertical leap. His time of 3.03 seconds while sprinting three-fourths of the court was faster than current NBA guards and former first-round picks Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook, and he finished first in the standing vertical, shuttle and lane agility drills.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.