Where do most NBA stars build their craft before coming to the next level? College, of course. Sure, there’s been LeBron James out of high school, Giannis Antetokounmpo with his start in Europe, or even LaMelo Ball’s Australian stint. Despite those exceptions, the majority of top players in this Thursday’s 2021 NBA Draft (8 ET, ABC/ESPN) will be coming from universities across the country.

Each year, a huge emphasis is placed on the NBA Draft Lottery, which accounts for the Top-14 picks in each NBA Draft. There have been 247 lottery selections from NCAA schools in the last 20 years — not counting international, professional or high school prospects who opted to not play in college.

Here’s a look at some of the collegiate lottery highlights since 2000.

Showing up in numbers

Kentucky’s Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns celebrate against the Georgia Bulldogs.

Duke and Kentucky are tied at the top with the most lottery selections (20). The only other schools in double-figures are Kansas (14), North Carolina (12), Arizona (10) and UConn (10).

During this 20-year period, Kentucky has sent five players selected in the lottery who were later chosen for All-NBA Teams: John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Julius Randle and Karl-Anthony Towns. That’s not even mentioning rising stars from UK such as De’Aaron Fox, Jamal Murray and Devin Booker.

Arizona’s own, 3-time NBA Champion Andre Iguodala won the 2015 Finals MVP with the Warriors. A year later, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye (both lottery Wildcats) got revenge on Iguodala and the Warriors as members of the 2016 Cavaliers’ title team.

College coincidences

In the last 20 years, only two times have the No. 2 and No. 3 picks in a particular draft been selected from the same university. In 2002, Duke’s Jay Williams and Mike Dunleavy were taken in the second and third spots by Chicago and Golden State, respectively. In 2004, UConn’s Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon went back to back for Charlotte and Chicago, respectively.

UConn standouts Ben Gordon (left) and Emeka Okafor were drafted back-to-back in 2004.

In 2005, four North Carolina players were selected in the lottery. Marvin Williams (No. 2 to Atlanta), Raymond Felton (No. 5 to Charlotte), Sean May (No. 13 to Charlotte) and Rashad McCants (No. 14 to Minnesota).

Similarly, in 2015, four Kentucky players were selected in the lottery. Towns (No. 1 to Minnesota), Willie Cauley-Stein (No. 6 to Sacramento), Trey Lyles (No. 12 to Utah) and Booker (No. 13 to Phoenix).

Kentucky is also the only program to ever have a player selected No. 1 and No. 2 in the same year. Back in 2012, Anthony Davis went at the top spot to New Orleans, followed by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to Charlotte.

Only three Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Award winners since 2000 were not chosen as lottery picks. All three players went into the league as undersized guards. They were Saint Joseph’s Jameer Nelson, Kansas’ Frank Mason and Villanova’s 2-time NCAA Champion Jalen Brunson.

Stacked standouts

Florida Gators’ Joakim Noah (right) celebrates next to teammate Al Horford.

A few colleges not mentioned above were able to produce some impressive ‘Big Three’ players as lottery selections over the past two decades.

Team Texas: Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tristan Thompson

Team UCLA: Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Zach LaVine

Team Oklahoma: Blake Griffin, Buddy Hield, Trae Young

Team Ohio State: Mike Conley, Evan Turner, D’Angelo Russell

Team Florida: Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Bradley Beal

Team Georgia Tech: Chris Bosh, Thaddeus Young, Derrick Favors

Team Washington: Brandon Roy, Terrence Ross, Markelle Fultz

Team Michigan State: Jason Richardson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Miles Bridges

Team USC: O.J. Mayo, DeMar DeRozan, Onyeka Okongwu

Team Gonzaga: Adam Morrison, Kelly Olynyk, Domantas Sabonis

Into the unknown

A handful of lottery picks put their universities on the map. Stephen Curry from Davidson, Damian Lillard out of Weber State, Lehigh’s CJ McCollum, Creighton phenom Doug McDermott and Murray State’s finest in Cameron Payne and Ja Morant.

A young Stephen Curry of the Davidson Wildcats looks on.

A few schools snuck into a spot early on and haven’t made much noise since.

Back in 2001, UNC Charlotte’s Rodney White went to Detroit as the 9th selection in the draft. In the same year, Okaloosa-Walton Community College (now known as Northwest Florida State College) had Kedrick Brown selected by Boston at the 11th pick. In the 2008 Draft, Rider University burst onto the scene with 12th overall selection Jason Thompson. Together, White, Brown and Thompson averaged 19.6 ppg combined over their three NBA careers.

Full list (since 2000)