June 28, 2005
Minneapolis/St. Paul - The Minnesota Timberwolves tonight chose Rashad McCants in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft. McCants, a 6-4, 207-pound guard from the University of North Carolina, was the 14th player taken overall.
"I think I had a great workout there and I believe I developed a good relationship with coach (Dwane) Casey and Kevin McHale," McCants said. "I think I showed them my ability to attack the rim and shoot the ball. I think they really liked my competitiveness."
"We're excited to get a player of Rashad's caliber," said Timberwolves General Manager Jim Stack. "His upside is terrific. We wanted a guy that would come into our program who has won at a high level. Rashad has been in a program that's personified that at North Carolina. We felt that we had to address the need at the swing position. He's a very dynamic player who is not afraid to take big shots. He's going to bring a lot of excitement to our franchise."
The 20-year-old McCants was an early entry candidate for the draft after spending three seasons at North Carolina (2002-03 - 2004-05). The guard ranks 14th all-time at Chapel Hill with 1,721 career points and tied for second with 221 career three-point field goals made. He was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team and Syracuse Regional All-Tournament after helping lead the Tar Heels to the NCAA title this spring.
As a junior last season, McCants ranked eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring (16.0 ppg), seventh in field goal percentage (.489) and fourth in three-point percentage (.423). He scored in double figures in 29 of 33 games last season, including 20-plus points on seven occasions.
"We're really excited about the opportunity to have Rashad join us," added Timberwolves Head Coach Dwane Casey. "He is an active, athletic, breakdown player that we have been coveting. Rashad can break down the defense, create one-on-one, and take the shot when the clock is winding down."RASHAD MCCANTS' COLLEGE STATISTICS