Sixers Newsroom

76ers Select Marreese Speights in First Round of 2008 NBA Draft

Philadelphia, Pa. – June 26, 2008 – Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the team acquired Marreese Speights with the 16th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Speights (6-10/245) recently completed his sophomore season at the University of Florida and was a member of the Gators 2007 NCAA Championship team.

The 20-year-old appeared in 36 games for the Gators in 2007-08, averaging 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.36 blocks in 24.3 minutes per game. He posted the ninth-highest field goal percentage (62.4% FGs) in the nation last season and would have ranked second all-time in school history in that category (63.3% FGs) but fell just short of the minimum qualification of 500 career shot attempts.

Speights scored 20+ points nine times last season and recorded 10+ rebounds 11 times, including 10 double-doubles. He also blocked 2 or more shots 16 times, including seven games with at least 3 blocks. Over the final nine games of the season, Speights averaged 17.0 points and 8.9 rebounds in just 27.7 minutes per game.

In 2006-07, Speights set a school freshman record by shooting 67.1% from the floor. He scored a season-high 16 points in just 10 minutes of play against Jackson State in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Speights played six minutes in the National Championship game vs. Ohio State, scoring 2 points while grabbing 2 boards. Five of his teammates that season (Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Chris Richard) were chosen in the 2007 NBA Draft.