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Blue Valley Northwest grad Christian Braun picked by Denver in first round of NBA Draft

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Blue Valley Northwest High School graduate and University of Kansas basketball standout Christian Braun was selected Thursday night by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft.

The details: Braun was the 21st overall pick in the two-round draft held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

  • The pick by the Nuggets was higher than many pre-draft projections had Braun being selected, which had largely forecast him being picked towards the end of the first round or the beginning of second, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal

Background: Braun was a key part of KU’s national championship run this past season.

  • He averaged 11.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game during the season.
  • Ochai Agbaji, another Kansas City area native and Braun’s former teammate, was also selected in the first round of the draft. As the 14th overall pick, he will play for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Reaction: Following the announcement of Braun being drafted, Kansas men’s basketball took to its official Facebook page to commemorate the news with a celebratory post that has already garnered 6,800 likes.

  • As of Thursday evening, a total 235 comments have been left on the post congratulating Braun on his success.
  • “Both [Braun] and Ochai went to teams on the rise and more importantly both will fit in nicely with their teams,” Prairie Village native Tim Daly wrote. “Congrats to both guys on their new jobs.”

Local ties: For Blue Valley Northwest, Braun was the first ever alumni to even play in the NCAA men’s basketball championship, according to the high school’s athletics department.

  • He had a decorated high school career, leading the Huskies to three Kansas Class 6A titles.
  • Braun was named Mr. Kansas Basketball in 2019. The award recognizes the best high school basketball player in the state of Kansas as voted on by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
  • Also that year, Braun was awarded the title of Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year.

About the author

Nikki Lansford
Nikki Lansford

Hi! I’m Nikki, and I cover the city of Overland Park.

I grew up in southern Overland Park and graduated from Olathe East before going on to earn a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. At Mizzou, I worked as a reporter and editor at the Columbia Missourian. Prior to joining the Post, I had also done work for the Northeast News, PolitiFact Missouri and Kaiser Health News.

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