The 'Young Bull’ is now a Cav. Collin Sexton ended a decade-long drought for Alabama on Thursday night as he was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 8 overall pick in the NBA Draft, becoming the Crimson Tide’s first draft pick since 2008.
"It just shows that all my hard work paid off," Sexton said during an interview with ESPN following the selection. "I just grinded. Started at the bottom and came back up to the top. That was the biggest thing, just to show people what I could do.”
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound point guard became Alabama’s first “one-and-done” player since the NBA required players to be at least one year removed from high school in 2006. He is the Crimson Tide’s highest selection since forward Antonio McDyess went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers in 1995. The last Alabama player to be selected in the draft was forward Richard Hendrix, who was picked No. 49 overall by the Golden State Warriors 10 years ago.
In Cleveland, Sexton could possibly team up with four-time MVP LeBron James, assuming the superstar elects to re-sign with the Cavaliers this offseason. Thursday, Sexton gave his best pitch to his potential teammate.
“LeBron, let’s do it,” Sexton said. “I see you need a few pieces, a few extra pieces this past season. Let’s do it, let’s go back to the Finals.”
Sexton earned SEC Co-Freshman honors while leading Alabama with 19.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game last season. He set Alabama’s freshman scoring record, finishing with 632 total points while becoming just the fourth player in school history to score 630 or more points.
Sexton broke Alabama’s single-season record for made free throws with 196. He also set the freshman single-game scoring mark with 40 points against Minnesota, a game in which he ended up as one of three Alabama players remaining on the court. The performance marked the first time a Crimson Tide player had scored 40 points in a game since Reggie King had 43 against Virginia in 1979.
Sexton was the first Alabama freshman in the modern era to record three straight games of more than 20 points in each of his first three contests. He scored 20 points or more 16 times, including five of his final six games.
Sexton’s most memorable moment came during the second round of the SEC Tournament against Texas A&M when he sprinted the length of the court before hitting a game-winning layup at the buzzer to give Alabama a 71-70 victory and keep the Crimson Tide’s postseason hopes alive. The win ultimately propelled Alabama to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2012.
