NEWARK, N.J. (WTVA) - Former Mississippi State Bulldog Arnett Moultrie was the only player from a Mississippi school drafted in the first round of Thursday night's NBA Draft. With the 27th overall pick in the Draft, the NBA Champion Miami Heat picked Moultrie, then promptly traded his rights to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Heat acquired the 45th overall pick in the 2012 Draft and a future first round pick from Philadelphia in exchange for Moultrie's rights.
In his only season for MSU, Moultrie shot 54.9% from the field and averaged 16.4 points a game. Moultrie also averaged 10.5 rebounds a game for the Bulldogs and played an average of nearly 36 minutes a game.
The 6-foot-11 Moultrie played two seasons at UTEP before transferring to Mississippi State. At Texas-El Paso, Moultrie averaged 9.3 points a game in 70 games.
The Southeastern Conference - particularly Kentucky - dominated the first round of the Draft. Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went No. 1 (New Orleans Hornets) and No. 2 (Charlotte Bobcats) respectively.
But Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist were far from the only Wildcats taken in the Draft. Terrence Jones (No. 18 - Houston Rockets), Marquis Teague (No. 29 - Chicago Bulls), Doron Lamb (No. 42 - Milwaukee Bucks) and Darius Miller (No. 46 - New Orleans Hornets) all heard their names called during the Draft.
Florida's Bradley Beal was the third overall pick of the draft, going to the Washington Wizards, meaning that the first three picks of the Draft all came out of the SEC.
Twelve of the 60 players selected in Thursday's NBA Draft were out of the SEC, meaning 20% of all players selected came from the Southeastern Conference (10% of all players taken came out of Kentucky).
Ole Miss' Terrance Henry and Mississippi State's Dee Bost and Renardo Sidney went undrafted.
Complete List of SEC Players Selected in 2012 NBA Draft
(1) New Orleans Hornets - Anthony Davis (Kentucky)
(2) Charlotte Bobcats - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky)
(3) Washington Wizards - Bradley Beal (Florida)
(18) Houston Rockets - Terrence Jones (Kentucky)
(23) Atlanta Hawks - John Jenkins (Vanderbilt)
(27) Miami Heat - Arnett Moultrie (Mississippi State)
Moultrie's rights traded to Philadelphia 76ers
(29) Chicago Bulls - Marquis Teague (Kentucky)
(30) Golden State Warriors - Festus Ezeli (Vanderbilt)
(31) Charlotte Bobcats - Jeffrey Taylor (Vanderbilt)
(42) Milwaukee Bucks - Doron Lamb (Kentucky)
(45) Philadelphia 76ers - Justin Hamilton (LSU)
Hamilton's rights traded to Miami Heat
(46) New Orleans Hornets - Darius Miller (Kentucky)
