The Golden States warriors they kept the 19th pick from the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft and used it to recruit guard Brandin Podziemski, graduated from the Santa Clara Broncos.
The 20-year-old guard played in 32 games in his one season with the Broncos and proved that he is an elite shooter at the college level. The shooting guard recorded averages of 19.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists with a 43.8% accuracy on his three-point shots.
His performance with Santa Clara landed him first-team All-WCC and was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year alongside Drew Timme of the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
A native of Muskego, Wisconsin, aims to be one of the main offensive players from the bench since Jordan Poole’s scoring ability will have to be replaced after his departure to Washington.
If there are no unforeseen events in the remainder of the low season, The Warriors starting five will consist of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney with a second unit consisting of Chris Paul, Gary Payton II, Podziemski, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga.
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Sixth Bronco to be drafted in the NBA first round
Podziemski became the sixth member of the Santa Clara Broncos to be drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. The others were Dick O’Keefe (1947), Kenny Sears (1955), Bud Ogden (1969), Mark McNamara (1982), Steve Nash (1996), and Jalen Williams (2022).
The shooting guard stated after being recruited that Jalen Williams was one of the reasons why he came to Santa Clara after starting his career with the Illinois Fighting Illini
“It is special for me and for Santa Clarto. Jalen is one of the reasons I came to Santa Clara on transfer and tried to follow in his footsteps.”, declared Podziemski in the draft broadcast.