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Gaucho Enters NBA Draft
updated: Apr 01, 2011, 3:14 PM
Source: UCSB Athletics
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Guard Orlando Johnson, who has led UC Santa Barbara to
consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history,
has declared himself available for the 2011 NBA Draft. Johnson, however, has
not hired an agent and retains the right to return for his final collegiate
season in 2011-12.
"I think this is a great opportunity for me," Johnson began. "If I were still
at LMU (he transferred from Loyola Marymount after his freshman season) I would
be a senior now, so the timing is good. With the success I've had early in my
career, I feel as though this is a great opportunity for me to look into taking
the next step."
In his two seasons at UCSB, Johnson has proven to be one of the best players in
school history. As a junior in 2010-11, he set a school record with 674 total
points, averaging a Big West-leading 21.1 per game. He also averaged 6.2
rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest while making 66 three-point baskets.
Johnson was a First Team All-Big West and First Team All-District 9 honoree for
the second straight year. He was also named the Most Valuable Player of the Big
West Tournament for the second time in as many seasons after averaging 28.3
points per game in leading the Gauchos to their second straight title and
subsequent NCAA Tournament berth.
"We are completely supportive of Orlando and his family as they look into all of
his options regarding the NBA, and we are really appreciative that they are
keeping us involved," said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. "Our staff will do
everything we can to help. Orlando has absolutely earned this opportunity."
Williams and his staff will contact NBA teams in an effort to get Johnson an
opportunity to workout for them.
"I really want to see what some of the teams think about my game and give them a
chance to evaluate me playing against top-level competition, guys they feel are
draft material." Johnson said. "That's the whole thing for me, showing I am
holding my own at that level."
The 2010 Big West Player of the Year, Johnson knows the areas that he needs to
improve on to play professionally.
"For me to be an asset to a team, I need to be able to defend," he said. "I'm
going to be working very hard in the next couple of weeks on my defense. I'll
be watching a lot of film, looking at my tendencies. I will definitely be
evaluating myself, really being critical of where I need to improve. To play in
the league, I know I'm going to have to defend some of the top players. The
other area I know I need to work on is ball handling and I'll be working hard on
that too."
In just two seasons at Santa Barbara, Johnson has scored 1,214 points.
Including the 383 points he scored as a freshman at Loyola Marymount, he has
totaled 1,597 points in three years as a collegiate player.
In addition to breaking the UCSB record for points in a season, Johnson tied the
record for points in a game when he went for 39 in a Feb. 5 win over UC Davis.
He scored 30 or more points six times as a junior and in 62 games as a Gaucho,
he has scored in double-figures 61 times. Johnson also set a school record for
points in a conference tournament game when he had 32 in a first round win over
Pacific in the 2011 tourney. He also had 30 points in the second round against
Cal State Northridge and 23 in the title game victory over Long Beach State.
In his final game of the 2010-11 season, Johnson tallied 21 points in the
Gauchos' NCAA Tournament game against Florida. He had 20 in the team's 2010
tourney game against Ohio State.
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