Nuggets draft Jack in first round

Jarrett Jack was taken by the Denver Nuggets with the 22nd overall pick in the NBA Draft. Jack was a Nugget for only an hour before he was traded to the Portland Trailblazers. Jack was the onlyTech player selected in this year's draft.

"I've loved my three years at Georgia Tech," Jack said. "I appreciate everything the people here, the coaches and the fans, have done for me. And I will fulfill my academic requirements."

Jack declared for the NBA draft at the last minute on May 5 and waited until the last minute before electing not to take his name out of the draft last Tuesday.

"With the success that I've had over the last three years, it's tough to walk away. My dream has always been to play in the NBA and I feel that I'm ready," Jack said.

He is just the sixth Tech player to make an early entry into the NBA draft and the second in three years.

"I support Jarrett in his decision," Head Coach Paul Hewitt said. "He has spoken to many of the decision- makers in the NBA and goes into this with his eyes wide open. I've been impressed with how mature he has been throughout the process and expect him to be very successful in the NBA."

While at Tech, Jack became just the sixth player in Tech history to score more than 1,000 points and have more than 500 assists. Jack started in 100 of his 101 games at Tech. The only game that he didn't start was March 5, 2005 against Clemson.

Since he has been at Tech the Jackets hold a 64-37 record, including a national runner-up finish in 2004.

Jack ends his career ranked 26th in career points at Tech with 1,265 and fifth in assists with 543.

Jack was the fourth point guard taken from Tech in the first round of the NBA draft and the fourteenth player overall.

The last Tech player drafted in the first round was Jack's freshman roommate, Chris Bosh, who was selected sixth overall in 2003.

Stephon Marbury (1996), Travis Best (1995) and Kenny Anderson (1991) were the other Tech point guards selected in the first round. Mark Price was selected as the first pick in the second round in the 1986 draft.

Despite not being drafted, the road to a professional career is still open for several Jackets. Luke Schenscher and Will Bynum generated the most buzz around them heading into the draft, but were not picked. B.J. Elder looked to be solidly in the second round at season's end, but fell off the radar as he was healing his ankle.

"I've heard a lot of teams like Luke including San Antonio. Will did a great job at the pre-draft camp and B.J. did a good job with his individual workouts. We're all in this together," Jack said.

These players will all be waiting to sign free agent contracts. Anthony McHenry will most likely be playing professional ball overseas next season and could be followed by a few other Jackets.

With Jack leaving, senior Theodis Tarver and junior Mario West will be the only upperclassmen on Tech's team next year with Tarver being the only player on next year's roster to have started a game for Tech.

Tech will also be returning four sophomores and welcoming three freshmen to the team. Freshmen Lewis Clinch and Alade Aminu were both ranked in the top 10 nationally. The team lost recruit Austin Jackson to the professional baseball draft earlier this month.