The Los Angeles Clippers selected Michigan State F/C Paul Davis with the 34th selection and Miami (FL) guard Guillermo Diaz with the 52nd pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. The Clippers landed a pair of players who averaged better than 17 points per game in 2005-06 in two of the nation’s premiere college basketball conferences, the Big Ten and the ACC.

The 6’11” Davis averaged 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds during his four-year career at Michigan State and left the school ranked eighth in points (1,718), fourth in rebounds (910) and blocked shots (87), while leaving East Lansing as the all-time leader in free throws made and attempted.

“He’s got good size, is physical and plays hard,” said Clippers Vice President of Basketball Operations Elgin Baylor, the 2005-06 Sporting News NBA Executive of the Year. “He can hit the jump shot and I’ve seen him go hard to the basket.”

As a senior in 2005-06, Davis averaged 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in earning All-Big Ten Second Team honors. Davis was named the Big Ten player of the Week three times as a senior in leading the Spartans to a 22-12 record.

“He’s very fundamentally sound and we feel that he can come in, develop, and give us some minutes,” said Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy. “He played in a big-time conference, for a really good coach, and averaged 17 points and nine boards while shooting fifty-six percent from the floor and eighty-seven percent from the line.”

Davis led Tom Izzo’s Spartans to the 2005 Final Four as a junior and earned Austin Regional All-Tournament honors after averaging 15.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in the first four games of the NCAA Tournament. Davis finished as the leading rebounder in the 2005 NCAA Tournament after grabbing a career-high 15 boards in the Spartans loss to eventual champion North Carolina.

“He can play pick and roll and pass the ball and comes from a good defensive system, so we like a lot of things about him,” said Dunleavy. “There are certain areas of his game that need work but we like his work ethic and think highly of him.”

As a sophomore in 2003-04, Davis was named First Team All-Big Ten after scoring in double figures 25 times. Davis earned All-South Regional Team honors in the NCAA Tournament as a freshman.

Diaz, who has Puerto Rican citizenship, averaged 15.9 points per game during his three year career at Miami (FL). He was named Second Team All-ACC in each of the past two seasons while earning All Big-East Freshman honors in 2003-04 when the Hurricanes were members of the Big East Conference.

“He’s a combo guard that can shoot the basketball and who is a very good defender,” said Baylor. “He’s very athletic and loves to play the game.”

An early entry candidate, Diaz averaged 17.2 points as a junior last season and averaged double figures in scoring in each of his three years at Miami.

“Diaz is an accomplished ACC player who averaged 17 points a game, is very athletic and can shoot the three-pointer,” said Dunleavy. “A lot of people talked about him going in the first round, he’s a good player who put up good numbers so it was a bit of a surprise to have a guy like that available at 52.”

The Clippers expect both Davis and Diaz to join their summer league team in Las Vegas from July 5-15.