Charlotte Hornets select Duke’s Mark Williams with No. 15 pick in the 2022 NBA draft
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Following a season of high offensive efficiency and dominating defense, Duke’s Mark Williams will start his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets.
The 7-foot-2, 242-pound center, the ACC’s defensive player of the year as a sophomore last season, was selected with the No. 15 pick of the NBA draft’s first round Thursday night.
Williams built on the strong ending to his freshman season by emerging as a more consistent threat on both ends of the court last season when Duke went 32-7 to win the ACC regular-season championship and make the program’s first Final Four since 2015. He completed his sophomore season averaging 11.2 points and 7.4 rebounds, making 72.1% of his shots from the field.
In Duke’s five-game run to the Final Four, he made 80.6% of his shots — setting the Duke record for a single NCAA tournament.
On defense, he led the ACC in blocked shots with 110, which was the fifth-most nationally.
At the NBA draft scouting combine in Chicago last month, Williams drew attention with his minuscule 5.4% body fat as well as his 7-6.5 wingspan and a standing reach of 9-9.
Mark Williams joins his older sister, Washington Mystics center Elizabeth Williams, in professional basketball.
The 6-3 Elizabeth Williams was a four-time, All-American center at Duke from 2011-15 whose jersey No. 1 is retired and hanging in Cameron Indoor Stadium’s rafters. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft, Williams is in her seventh season in the league.
She joined her brother in the draft’s green room at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday night.
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This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 9:39 PM.