There was no argument that former Arizona State guard Josh Christopher turned in a formidable NBA combine performance, but that display would mean in terms of draft selection did see many mock drafts differ in their predictions, with many of them projecting Chrsitopher to be selected only in the second round.

On Thursday night, Christopher, only the second one-and done player in Sun Devil basketball history, defied those predictions and was picked in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft, no, 24 overall, by the Houston Rockets.

In 15 games for ASU Christopher averaged 14.3 ppg and 4.7 rpg shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 80 percent from the kine. His freshman season in Tempe was cut short due to a back injury he suffered versus Oregon at home taking a hard fall after blocking a shot. His highest scoring game was a 28-point outing in a loss to Villanova.

Christopher's selection marks the first ASU player drafted in the Bobby Hurley era, and he's also the first Sun Devil drafted since Carrick Felix (at no. 33) in 2013, and the first first-round pick since James Harden was selected no. 3 in the 2009 draft.