Quentin Grimes averaged 17.8 points per game, shooting 40.3 percent from 3-point range, during his breakout junior season for UH basketball. | Andy Yanez/The Cougar
The New York Knicks selected former Houston basketball guard Quentin Grimes with the 25th overall pick, a pick which belonged to the Los Angeles Clippers but will reportedly be traded to New York, in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Grimes becomes the first UH player to get drafted in the first round since Greg “Cadillac” Anderson in 1987.
After being considered a major bust after a disappointing freshman season at Kansas, the former five-star recruit reinvented his game during his two years under Kelvin Sampson at UH.
Grimes had a breakout 2020-21 season for the Cougars, leading the team in scoring with 17.8 points per game highlighted shooting 40.3 percent from 3-point range. Grimes showed his improvement on the boards, pulling down 5.7 rebounds a game, and also took a major stride forward defensively.
Grimes’ draft stock skyrocketed after his performance at the NBA Draft Combine, as the 6-foot-5-inch guard led all scorers during the event’s scrimmages highlighted by a 27 point performance in which Grimes hit seven 3-pointers during the combine’s second scrimmage.
On top of being co-American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and named to the All-Midwest Region team in the NCAA Tournament, New York’s newest player received numerous All-American honors, including earning third-team recognition from the Associated Press.
He was the first UH player to earn All-American honors of any kind since Gee Gervin received Honorable Mention in 1999.
Grimes becomes the latest Cougar in the NBA, joining Damyean Dotson, Armoni Brooks and Nate Hinton.
