4/18/2023

Washington State has an amazing history and future of home grown basketball players making an impact in the NBA. Currently there are 18 players on NBA rosters with 7 still playing in the NBA play-offs. Here are the series and teams that still have Washington State hoopsters still playing followed by a list of all 18 active NBA players, their teams and high schools they attended. 

In the Boston vs Atlanta series the Hawks start former Rainier Beach Viking Dejounte Murray where he is averaging 20.5 points a game, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. He scored 24 points grabbed 8 rebounds and 6 assists but wasn’t enough as Boston beat Atlanta to go up 1-0 in the series.

In the Brooklyn vs Philadelphia series the Nets have Joe Harris coming off the bench the former Chelan Mountain Goat won the 3-point contest at the 2019 NBA All-Star game. Harris averaged 7.6 points coming off the bench this season. Philadelphia has former Federal Way standout Jalen McDaniels coming off the bench as well where he averaged 9.4 points a game and 4 rebounds.

Milwaukee drafted rookie Marjon Beauchamp in the 1st round at last year’s NBA draft. Beauchamp a native of Yakima ended up playing at Nathan Hale, Garfield, and Rainier Beach during his high school years. Beauchamp did get to start the final 2 regular season games for the Bucks as they rested their starters and has come off the bench for the rest of the season and averaged 5.1 points a game and 2 rebounds.

And in the Denver vs Minnesota series the Nuggets start former Nathan Hale standout Michael Porter Jr. Porter played for another former Washington State NBA player turned High school coach Brandon Roy winning the State Championship. Porter averages 17.4 points a game with 5.5 rebounds and an assist.

The Timberwolves have Garfield alum Jaylen Nowell coming off the bench and is joined by another Federal Way Eagle Jaden McDaniels who is the older brother of Jalen McDaniels listed above. Jaden averaged 12.1 points per game with 4 boards and 2 assists. He is not available for the current play-offs after fracturing his hand after punching a wall in a moment of frustration. Nowell also comes off the bench and has seen his minutes go up with the absence of McDaniels and played 22 minutes scoring 12 in their play-off opening loss to Denver. Nowell averaged 10.8 points a game this season with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

Of course the big story from last year’s NBA draft was the 1st Washington state player ever to be drafted #1 in the NBA draft. Paolo Banchero from O’Dea High School was taken #1 by the Orlando Magic after his 4 years of starting for the Irish and 1 season at Duke. Banchero played his only season of NCAA hoops for the legendary Mike Krzyzewski in his final year leading the Blue Devils. Banchero averaged 20 points a game, 7 rebounds and 3.7 assists making him the favorite for NBA Rookie of the Year.

Here are all 18 Players Representing 13 schools alphabetically by School

Then taking a look at the remarkable number of NBA players over the years including 2 Basketball Hall of Famers from Washington state. Bob Houbregs played for the Boston Celtics, Baltimore Bullets, Milwaukee Hawks, and for both the Fort Wayne and Detroit Pistons from 1953-1958 and went to Queen Anne High School which no longer exists and served as the Seattle Sonics GM from 1970-73. Houbregs led the Washington Huskies to their first Final Four in 1953 and averaged 34 points. Houbregs died at the age of 82 in 2014 at his home in Olympia.

Then there’s John Stockton a Gonzaga Prep grad who played his entire career for the Utah Jazz from 1985-2003 and went to Gonzaga Prep and college at Gonzaga. He was 1st team All-NBA twice and was included as one of the 50 greatest players in 1996. His long 19-year career lasted until he retired at the age of 41 and was a starter for the Utah Jazz all 19 seasons. He remains the king of NBA assists with more than 15,000 during his career.

Other notable players that made a big splash in the NBA included Jamal Crawford, Doug Christie, Nate Robinson and Terrence Williams all from Rainier Beach. Brandon Roy from Garfield and now the Bulldogs Head Coach, Jason Terry and Aaron Brooks from Franklin High School, James Edwards from Roosevelt, Detlef Schrempf from Centralia and many more.

One of the reasons to shine a light on these accomplishments is to highlight the incredible talent that you can see every single year not just in basketball but all sports at the High School level. Just think 2 seasons ago you could have watched this year’s likely NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero play for just $7 or less. You could have watched all of these NBA stars for a few bucks which is an incredible bargain.

The WIAA and coaches and supporters including ESN talk about the importance of sports and activities in conjunction with the High School experience. But we also want to point out the absolute steal of a deal to take in High School sports just on a dollar for dollar comparison. Most varsity level sports do not charge more than $10 to get in and the average is more like $7 for adults and $5 or less for Seniors, Military and kids and many sports are free to attend. Concessions are way cheaper and no charge to park.

Take a look at the list short list we compiled in only basketball. If you’re a sports fan there is no greater value than taking in High School sports event where your support really does go straight to helping keep these programs going for everyone. If you haven’t done it in a while make plans to attend a high school sports event, you will certainly get your money’s worth.

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