Malachi Flynn Selected by Toronto Raptors in 2020 NBA Draft
Flynn is the first SDSU player selected in the first round of the NBA Draft since Kawhi Leonard in 2011.
Former San Diego State University men's basketball player Malachi Flynn was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the first round (29th overall) of the 2020 NBA Draft Wednesday night.
The guard from Tacoma, Washington, is the second Aztec in as many years (Jalen McDaniels, Charlotte Hornets, 2019) to be taken in the NBA Draft. Flynn is the 25th Aztec in school history to be selected in the NBA Draft and the first taken in the first round since Kawhi Leonard in 2011.
Flynn joins a Toronto team that finished the 2019-20 season with a 53-19 record, Atlantic Division champions, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and reached the semifinal round.
In 32 games in 2019-20, all starts, Flynn averaged 17.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He added 56 steals and three blocks, while shooting 85.7% from the free throw line.
Following the 2019-20 campaign, Flynn became the most decorated Aztec in a single season. He was named a consensus second-team All-American after being recognized by The Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), United States Basketball Writers of America (USBWA) and The Sporting News. With that honor, he joined Michael Cage and Kawhi Leonard as the only SDSU men's basketball players to receive consensus All-American honors.
Flynn was the 2019-20 Mountain West Player of the Year and a first-team All-Mountain West performer in both the coaches and media polls. He earned the coaches poll Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and the media poll Mountain West Newcomer of the Year, in addition to twice being named Mountain West Player of the Week. He capped his junior year being named the Mountain West Male Athlete of the Year.
He led SDSU to the Mountain West regular-season title and the championship game of the Mountain West Tournament last year. With Flynn being taken by the Raptors, SDSU is one of 10 schools nationally to have at least one player taken in the NFL, MLB and NBA drafts in 2019 and 2020, and is the only school represented on that list which is not in a Power Five conference.
