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Alex Poythress is getting his NBA shot after all.
Despite going undrafted during Thursday night's NBA Draft, Poythress will get a chance to play in the NBA Summer League with the Orlando Magic, DraftExpress.com reports. The former Kentucky Wildcats forward was hoping to be a late second-round pick, but now he'll have to impress the Magic and/or other NBA teams if he wants to get invited to an NBA training camp.
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John Calipari sounds confident the senior big man will eventually get an NBA contract, the same path Aaron Harrison took last year.
Although Alex didn’t get drafted, I’m proud of the position he’s put himself in after what he went through a year a half ago.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 24, 2016
I’m confident Alex will get a contract just like Aaron Harrison last season.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 24, 2016
Poythress wrapped up his UK career with 966 points, 597 rebounds and 77 blocks over his four-year career. He's just the 12th player in program history to post 900 points, 500 rebounds and 70 blocks in a career.
In his final season at Kentucky, Poythress averaged 10.2 points and a team-high-tying 6.0 rebounds per game. He was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Rolly, the fourth consecutive year he's earned that honor.
"I wouldn't trade my years at Kentucky for the world," Poythress told SEC Country on June 20. "I matured. I learned how to handle things. I had everything thrown my way, different adversities — I've been through it all — and I just learned how to take a punch and get back up and keep on fighting. ... I know people gave up on me, but I never gave up on myself."
Alex's senior season and overall numbers would have looked a lot better had he not suffered a torn ACL during his junior year, which he was still healing from as last season ended, not to mention going through another minor knee procedure in February.