NEW YORK – The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Florida guard Tre Mann with the 18th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft on Thursday. Mann spent the draft in New York City surrounded by friends and family, including Florida head coach Mike White, associate head coach Al Pinkins and former Florida assistant Jordan Mincy, now Jacksonville’s head coach.
The Gainesville native becomes the 36th NBA Draft selection in Florida history and UF’s 12th first-round pick after he led the Gators with 16.0 points per game and earned All-SEC honors during his sophomore season.
“We’re all just so excited for Tre,” White said. “He has put in an incredible amount of work to get to this point, and his dedication, commitment and maturity have helped him reach this goal. He has earned this moment, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Mann will be the fourth Gator coached by White to reach the NBA, joining Dorian Finney-Smith, Chris Chiozza and Devin Robinson.
Mann increased his scoring average by 10.7 points as a sophomore over his freshman season, which marked the largest single-season increase by a Gator over the past 25 years. He finished his Florida career strong, averaging 20.7 points over his final seven appearances, including a career-best 30 points vs. Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, which marked the third 30-point game ever by a Gator at the SEC Tournament (Anthony Roberson, Kenyan Weaks).
Mann posted a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds in Florida’s win at Auburn last season, joining Nick Calathes as the only Florida guards over the past 25 years to post a 19/13 stat line. Mann also joined Calathes and Matt Walsh as the only Gators over that same period to post four straight 20-point games. He also scored 11 of Florida’s final 20 points to close out the Gators’ win at Kentucky last season.
Florida All-Time First-Round NBA Draft Picks
2021
Tre Mann
Thunder
18th
2012
Bradley Beal
Wizards
3rd
2008
Marreese Speights
76ers
16th
2007
Al Horford
Hawks
3rd
2007
Corey Brewer
Timberwolves
7th
2007
Joakim Noah
Bulls
9th
2005
David Lee
Knicks
30th
2000
Mike Miller
Magic
5th
2000
Donnell Harvey
Knicks
22nd
1998
Jason Williams
Kings
7th
1990
Dwayne Schintzius
Spurs
24th
1969
Neal Walk
Suns
2nd