Creighton Quintet Ready To Start 2019-20 NBA Season

OMAHA, Neb. -- When the 2019-20 NBA season starts tonight, Creighton University will have five alumni in the NBA at the same time for the second straight year when Kyle Korver, Anthony Tolliver, Doug McDermott, Justin Patton and Khyri Thomas continue the school tradition of Bluejays playing at pro basketball's highest level.

Korver signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in the off-season, while McDermott embarks on his second season with the Indiana Pacers. Tolliver returned to the Portland Trailblazers as a free-agent in the offseason after spending last year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Justin Patton spent time with the Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers organizations a year ago and is now part of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Returning for his second year as part of the Detroit Pistons organization is Khyri Thomas.

Korver played at Creighton from 1999-2003 and was succeeded by Tolliver, who played for the Bluejays from 2003-07. In 2012-13 they were teammates with the Hawks, where they became CU's first alums who were NBA teammates since 1970, as well as becoming the first Bluejay alums to start an NBA game as teammates.

Korver begins his 17th year in the NBA and first campaign with the Bucks. Known as one of the elite long-distance shooters ever, Korver ranks fourth in NBA history with 2,351 career three-pointers and is ninth in league history with his 42.92 percent marksmanship from three-point range. Korver and Stephen Curry are the only players in league history in the top-17 of both categories.

Korver's 53.6 percent marksmanship from three-point range in 2009-10 remains an NBA record for a season, smashing a mark held by noted sniper Steve Kerr. In 2013-14, Korver smashed the NBA record (since broken by Stephen Curry) with a 127 game streak with a 3-point basket to obliterate the Hawks franchise mark of 42 and the previous NBA mark of 89 formerly held by Dana Barros. He also led the NBA by shooting 47.2 percent from long-range in 2013-14. In 2014-15 Korver was an NBA All-Star for the first time, was named NBA Co-Player of the Month in January, led the league with 49.2 percent three-point marksmanship, and finished third in the NBA with 221 three-point baskets. Korver became the only player in NBA history to lead the league in three-point percentage four times when he shot 45.1 percent from downtown in 2016-17.

For his NBA career, Korver has scored 11,567 points (second-most among Creighton basketball alumni, trailing only Paul Silas) in 1,174 games (9.9 ppg.). He has also made 87.76 percent of his career free throws, which ranks 17th in NBA history among players with at least 1,200 makes from the charity stripe.

Korver, who was inducted into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in August of 2018, wears No. 26 with the Bucks.

Tolliver returns to Portland for the first time since 2009-10 after also spending time with the Cleveland, San Antonio, New Orleans, Golden State, Minnesota, Atlanta, Charlotte, Phoenix, Sacramento and Detroit organizations in his career. Creighton fans who remember Tolliver as an inside force may be surprised to learn of his perimeter game. More than 64 percent of his career shots have come from behind the NBA three-point arc, and he has made 37.6 percent of those shots from downtown. In 2017-18 he made a career-best 43.6 percent of his long-range tries for the Pistons to rank seventh in the league while connecting on a personal-best 159 treys overall. Tolliver has also converted 77.2 percent of his shots at the line and owns 606 career assists (against just 425 turnovers), 202 blocks and 250 steals.

Tolliver went undrafted and spent time in the NBA D-League and Germany before becoming an NBA regular. He wears No. 43 with the Trail Blazers.

McDermott played at Creighton from 2010-14 and left as the most decorated men's basketball player in school history. He ranks sixth in NCAA history with 3,150 career points and swept 14 National Player of the Year awards as a senior. McDermott was a three-time conference player of the year and became the first male in 30 years to be named a First Team All-American three straight seasons by the Associated Press.

McDermott was selected 11th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, then traded an hour later to the Chicago Bulls. McDermott averaged 7.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game during 77 games with the Pacers last season. He ranks 30th in NBA history with 40.4 percent marksmanship from three-point territory, and in 2018-19 led the NBA with 49.1 percent shooting from three-point range in road games (minimum 35 attempts). The son of Creighton head men's basketball coach Greg McDermott, Doug McDermott wears No. 20 for the Pacers.

Both Tolliver and McDermott joined Korver in the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in August of 2019.

Patton signed as a free agent with Oklahoma City in August. He redshirted the 2015-16 season with Creighton before a breakthrough 2016-17 campaign that saw him earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Year accolades. Patton was the 16th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls in June, then traded that evening to the Minnesota Timberwolves with Jimmy Butler for Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen. Patton played in one game for the Timberwolves in 2017-18 and three games a year ago with Philadelphia. Patton wears No. 13 for the Thunder.

Khyri Thomas bypassed his senior year at Creighton to turn pro in 2018 and last year averaged 2.3 points in 26 games with the Pistons. A two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, Thomas was a Second Round pick in the 2018 Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, then traded to the Detroit Pistons. Thomas wears No. 13 for the Pistons.

Including 2019-20, Creighton has now had an NBA player in 36 of the last 37 years, and 53-of-56 seasons since 1964-65.

Before 2017-18, Creighton last had four NBA players at the same time during the 1969-70 season, when Paul Silas, Neil Johnson, Bob Portman and Wally Anderzunas were active simultaneously. Last year was the first time the Bluejays had five products in the NBA at the same time.

The five NBA players listed above are among 21 former Creighton products that are playing professionally, including this list generated by EuroBasket.com.

**#ProJays Playing Professionally**
Name	Years Played at Creighton	Current Team (Country)
Will Artino	2011-15	WM Dragons (Malaysia)
Devin Brooks	2013-15	Rieker KN (Slovakia)
Justin Carter	2008-10	Chorale de Roanne Basket (France)
Connor Cashaw	2018-19	DBL Sharks Sheffield (Britain)
Austin Chatman	2011-15	Nevezis (Lithuania)
Gregory Echenique	2010-13	Hiroshima Dragonflies (Japan)
Marcus Foster	2016-18	Hapoel Unet Holon (Israel)
Samson Froling	2018-19	Illawarra Hawks (Australia)
Geoffrey Groselle	2012-16	Entente Orleans 45 (France)
Cole Huff	2015-17	ITU BB (Turkey)
Kaleb Joseph	2017-19	Zlatorog (Slovenia)
Kyle Korver	1999-03	Milwaukee Bucks (United States)
Martin Krampelj	2015-19	Cedevita Olimpija (Slovenia)
Kenny Lawson Jr.	2006-11	Pompea MNV (Italy)
Jahenns Manigat	2010-14	DEAC (Hungary)
Doug McDermott	2010-14	Indiana Pacers (United States)
James Milliken	2014-16	Kutaisi (Georgia)
Justin Patton	2016-17	Oklahoma City Thunder (United States)
Khyri Thomas	2015-18	Detroit Pistons (United States)
Anthony Tolliver	2003-07	Portland Trail Blazers (United States)
Maurice Watson Jr.	2015-17	Unieuro Forli (Italy)

Creighton Quintet Ready To Start 2019-20 NBA Season

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