BATON ROUGE – LSU point guard and first-team All-SEC selection Tremont Waters was selected with pick No. 51 Thursday in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Jay Bilas called it a “good pick” on the ESPN broadcast and said “He’s just a small guard, but he can absolutely play” while highlights from Waters sophomore season played on screen..
Waters played two seasons at LSU and was a part of 46 wins and three postseason victories in earning first-team All-SEC honors in 2019 and was one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award for point guards. He was also the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. He led LSU to the SEC Championship last season and the NCAA Sweet 16.
In two games at the NBA Combine, Waters was 7-of-14 from the field with five treys, five assists and four steals while scoring a combined 19 points. Waters was among the top five in all participants at the Combine in the three-quarter sprint and both NBA break-right and left-shooting percentage. He was also a top five among guards in vertical jump.
In his two seasons, Waters averaged 15.6 points for 66 games with 390 assists and 163 steals. He set the LSU single season mark for steals in a season this past year with 96. He led the SEC in assists average and steals average and was fourth in the nation in steals average. For the 2018-19 season, he averaged 15.3 points, 5.82 assists and 2.91 steals per game. One of the highlights of the season was his drive to the hoop to score the winning bucket against Maryland near the buzzer to give the Tigers a 69-67 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Dating back to 1947, LSU has had 57 players drafted since the start of NBA draft proceedings.
In the hours after the Draft, LSU freshman Naz Reid secured a two-way deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Reid will report to begin preparations for the NBA Summer League which begins July 5 in Las Vegas.
A moment he’s worked for his entire life!
Tremont Waters, the New Haven, Connecticut native, is headed back to the Northeast to play for the @celtics! pic.twitter.com/9iB550M44Q
— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) June 21, 2019