Somewhat surprisingly, the 19-year-old forward from Duke University was called up as the first college player, experts had rather expected the 2.13-meter giant Chet Holmgren or Jabari Smith. The former went to Oklahoma City Thunder as number two, the latter to the Houston Rockets as number three. “I can’t believe what just happened,” said Banchero, whose first well-wisher was his mother, Rhonda Smith-Banchero, a former WNBA player.
