Before the Golden State Warriors are on the clock with the No. 2 overall selection next month, Warriors Wire is rewinding through Golden State’s draft history to highlight some of the most memorable picks — trades, surprises, busts, sleepers and everything in between.
In the 1997 NBA Draft, the Warriors were able to find a prospect that would remain in the Bay Area for the next 10 seasons.
June 25, 1997
The San Antonio Spurs opened the 1997 edition of the NBA draft by selecting future Hall of Fame power forward Tim Duncan. Before the top-10 picks came to a close, the Golden State’s Garry St. Jean and P.J. Carlesimo were on the clock.
With the No. 9 pick in the draft, the Golden State Warriors landed Adonal Foyle out of Colgate University.
While helping push Colgate to two trips to the NCAA Tournament, the 6-foot-10 center averaged 20.4 points on 56.6% shooting from the field with 12.7 rebounds and 5.7 blocks during his three-year stint with the Raiders.
In his final season at Colgate, the center averaged an eye-opening 6.4 blocks per contest. Prior to declaring for the NBA draft, Foyle was the NCAA’s all-time leader in blocks with 492.
Along with winning Patriot League Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons, Bey earned a spot on the AP All-American Third-team.
As a rookie, Foyle played in 55 games, tallying 3.0 points on 40.6% shooting from the field with 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per contest.
After developing into a frontcourt contributor, Foyle went on to play 10 consecutive seasons in the Bay Area. Over his 10 year career with the Warriors, Foyle averaged 5.0 rebounds, 4.4 points and 1.8 blocks per contest.
Watch highlights from Foyle’s run with the Warriors via YouTube:
Before retiring in 2009, Foyle recorded minutes for the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies. Once his playing days were over, Foyle joined the Magic’s front office as the team’s director of player development until 2012.
Foyle currently serves as a basketball analyst for post-game commentary on ABC 7’s “After the Game” in the Bay Area.
Other notable members of the 1997 NBA Draft class included Chauncey Billups and Tracy McGrady.
