The second overall pick in Thursday night’s NBA draft, Victor Oladipo, a shooting guard out of Indiana University along with 2nd round pick out from Oklahoma, Romero Osby were introduced to Orlando in an Amway Center press conference Friday afternoon.
Known as an explosive player who plays tenacious defense, Oladipo was touted as having the best work ethic in this year’s draft. That’s just the thing the Magic brass were looking for.
“My family always told me that in order to achieve anything in this world, you have to work hard,” said Oladipo. “That’s what I’m trying to do. It’s got me to this point, and it’s going to continue to keep me going throughout my career and I’m just trying to bring this work ethic to this organization and this team, and build the trust in my teammates and just win”.
Magic general manager Rob Hennigan, who pulled the trigger on last night’s picks, says “Those ingredients serve as a really strong backbone for future success, and we feel that his mentality is consistent with all of our players’ mentality which is they want to work, they want to be great, and they want to be in an environment that’s going to allow them to do that”
“I think they will both thrive in our environment, and add to our environment, and those are important things for us going forward and so I’m looking forward to being their coach for sure,” said Orlando head coach Jacque Vaughn.
“We’ve been dreaming about this time our whole lives,” explained 2nd round pick Romero Osby. “For it finally to be here and for the Magic to give us this opportunity to pursue dreams and the people that have embraced us the way they’ve embraced us so far, really motivates us to get in the gym and try to make them proud.”
Osby, the 51st overall pick, is 6-foot 8 and averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds a game in two seasons with the Sooners after transferring from Mississippi State.