Isaiah Mobley Selected in the Second Round of the NBA Draft
The USC Trojans are putting together a nice run in the NBA Draft under head coach Andy Enfield. On Thursday, Isaiah Mobley joined the list of recent Trojans taken in the draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Mobley with the 19th pick of the second round and 49th pick overall.
The 6-foot-10, 238-pound Mobley led the team with 14.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, as well as 29 blocked shots. He finished second on the team with 106 assists and 24 steals. He scored in double figures on 24 occasions and had six double-doubles on his way to being named USC’s team MVP. Mobley was also selected to the Pac-12 All-Conference team and helped the Trojans to a third-place finish in the Pac-12 and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Significantly, Mobley is the older brother of former Trojan and current Cavaliers star Evan Mobley. The older Mobley is a very good player in his own right. But it makes sense that Cleveland would want to pair them again as they’ve been effective together throughout their careers.
Evan Mobley averaged 15 points and 8.3 rebounds and finished second in the voting for the Rookie of the Year Award.
The Mobley brothers played together at USC for just one season. But it was a special one. They helped lead the Trojans to the Elite 8 with blowout NCAA Tournament wins against Kansas and Oregon.
USC’s NBA Draft Success
Between 2012 and 2017, USC did not have a single player drafted by an NBA team. It’s been a different story since the 2018 draft, however.
De’Anthony Melton and Chimezie Metu went in the second round that year, selected by the Rockets and Spurs, respectively.
Then came a three-year run of first-round picks. Kevin Porter Jr. went No. 30 overall in 2019. Onyeka Okongwu went No. 6 to the Hawks in 2020. And Mobley went No. 3 overall to the Cavs in 2021.
With Mobley’s selection this year, USC joins Duke and Kentucky as the only three schools to have a player selected in each of the past five NBA Drafts.
