Montverde Academy alum D'Angelo Russell was the No. 2 overall pick in this summer's NBA Draft.
Photo by Andrew Bershaw
This summer's NBA draft was a slam dunk for several
Montverde Academy (Fla.) alumni.
Both 2014 MVA graduate D'Angelo Russell, and 2013 MVA graduate Dakari Johnson were selected in the 2015 NBA Draft.
D'Angelo Russell, Montverde Academy
Courtesy of Montverde Academy
Russell was the No. 2 overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers. D'Angelo is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and was a Montverde Academy boarding student for nearly three school years. He played basketball for The Ohio State University as a freshman in the 2014-2015 NCAA D1 basketball season. Russell averaged nearly 20 points a game in this past season, and was awarded the Big 10 Freshman Player of the Year, and also named to the first team All-Big 10. Russell missed most of his senior year at Montverde Academy due to a knee surgery, but he finished his senior season strongly, and was awarded the 2014 Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament (M.A.I.T.) Most Valuable Player, was selected as a 2014 McDonalds All-American, and was a major factor in MVA's 2013-2014 undefeated season record (24-0) that included winning the 2014 DICK'S Sporting Goods High School National Tournament.
Dakari Johnson was chosen as the 48th selection in the second round of the 2015 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Johnson, a native of the Bronx, New York, was a sophomore center for the University of Kentucky last season. In his senior year at MVA, Dakari led the Academy to an electrifying 67-66 nationally televised victory over St. Benedict's Prep of Newark, New Jersey, in the ESPN 2013 National Invitational Tournament Championship. He was later named that tournament's Most Valuable Player of that game, selected as a McDonald's All-American, and played an important role in helping the MVA Eagles solidify their 25-2 record and No. 1 consensus ranking in all leading 2013 national high-school basketball polls.
Dakari Johnson, Montverde Academy
Courtesy of Montverde Academy
After Russell's No. 2 selection, MVA Boys' Varsity Basketball Head Coach Kevin Boyle had four former players picked in the top three picks of the NBA draft in the past five years including Kyrie Irving (No. 1 pick in NBA Draft 2011), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (No. 2 pick in NBA Draft 2012), and Joel Embiid, who attended MVA in 2012 and was the No. 3 overall NBA pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in 2014. Both Irving and Kidd-Gilchrist played for Coach Boyle at Elizabeth, New Jersey's St. Patrick High School.
Montverde Academy's 2015-2016 season held who is sure to be the player to watch at the collegiate level, Ben Simmons. Simmons was a 2015 MVA graduate. At 6'10", the native of Australia, averaged 28.0 points, 4.0 assists, 11.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. He received many impressive awards that included earning the distinctive MaxPreps National Basketball Player of the Year, the 2015 USA Today Boys Basketball Player of the Year honor, the 2015 Gatorade® National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, the 2015 Naismith Trophy, and the Wootten Player of the Year. Over the last two seasons as an Eagles Boys Varsity Basketball co-captain, Simmons is accredited for helping the school amass a total record of 62-1.
