June 26, 2003

LAS VEGAS - Former UNLV men's basketball point guard Marcus Banks became the program's first NBA draft pick in four years when the Memphis Grizzlies selected him with the final lottery pick -- 13th overall -- in the 2003 NBA Draft's first round on Thursday.

Banks was later traded to the Boston Celtics with No. 27 pick Kendrick Perkins for Boston's 16th and 20th selections, Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones, respectively.

Banks is the 13th player from UNLV to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft and is the 47th Runnin' Rebel to ever be picked in the league's draft. He is the first player to be drafted since Shawn Marion was selected ninth overall by the Phoenix Suns in 1999.

Only eight Runnin' Rebels have ever been selected higher than 13th in the NBA Draft. Before Marion, the two most recent UNLV players drafted were Keon Clark (13th by the Orlando Magic) in 1998 and J.R. Rider (fifth by the Minnesota Timberwolves) in 1993.

Banks is the first UNLV player ever drafted by Memphis and the first point guard from UNLV to be taken since Greg Anthony was selected 12th by the New York Knicks in 1991.

Banks, who came to UNLV from Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, grew up in Las Vegas and attended Cimarron-Memorial High School. In his two seasons as a Runnin' Rebel, he averaged 18.1 points and 4.3 assists per game. Last season, as the team finished 21-11 and earned an NIT berth, he was second in the Mountain West Conference in scoring with 20.3 ppg. He also led the conference in assists (5.5 apg) and steals (2.8).

Banks earned honorable mention for the 2003 Associated Press All-America team and was named the USBWA District VIII Player of the Year. He was named first team All-MWC and was selected as the MWC co-Defensive Player of the Year. He was also honored as one of 15 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

Banks is 24th on the all-time UNLV career scoring list with 1,139 points and is only the ninth player in Runnin' Rebel history to score 1,000 points in his first two seasons in a UNLV uniform. He ranks fifth in career points out of players who played at UNLV for only two seasons. He also ranks sixth all-time at UNLV for steals in a career (158) and is second on the seasonal steals chart (91 in 2002-03).

UNLV'S NBA DRAFT FIRST-ROUND SELECTIONSYear    Player          Pick    Team2003    Marcus Banks     13th    Memphis Grizzlies1999    Shawn Marion        9th Phoenix Suns1998    Keon Clark      13th    Orlando Magic1993    J.R. Rider      5th Minnesota Timberwolves1992    Elmore Spencer      25th    Los Angeles Clippers1991    Larry Johnson       1st Charlotte Hornets         Stacey Augmon      9th Atlanta Hawks         Greg Anthony       12th    New York Knicks1987    Armon Gilliam       2nd Phoenix Suns1986    Anthony Jones       21st    Washington Bullets1983    Sidney Green        5th Chicago Bulls1978    Reggie Theus        9th Chicago Bulls1975    Ricky Sobers        16th    Phoenix Suns