Javon Small made the most of his final season playing college basketball, which was also his first year at West Virginia.
Small’s performance throughout the 2024-25 campaign helped raise his prospects professionally, and it paid off for the guard Thursday night as he was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 48th pick in the second round of the NBA Draft.
Former WVU guard Javon Small has been selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 48th pick in the NBA Draft. pic.twitter.com/kbSM1T15fw
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) June 27, 2025
Near the top in several major statistical categories among Big 12 players, Small averaged 18.6 points, 5.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals in his senior season at WVU. The scoring average was second among Big 12 players, while Small, who started all 32 games and played an average of 36.2 minutes, was third in the league in assists.
Small, who made 83 three-pointers as a Mountaineer, was third in the Big 12 with a free-throw percentage of 88.0. He scored in double figures in 30 of 32 games, including each of his first 19 at WVU.
A native of South Bend, Ind., Small had Big 12 experience prior to joining the Mountaineers as he spent his junior season at Oklahoma State. Small averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists in his lone campaign with the Cowboys, which followed two seasons at East Carolina.
Javon Small matching with mom! 💚 pic.twitter.com/KZAsX7CxEG
— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2025
In his second season with the Pirates, Small scored 15.8 points on average to go with 5.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds, though an injury limited him to 18 games.
Small measured 6-foot-1 without shoes at the NBA Draft Combine. He becomes the first West Virginia player selected in the NBA Draft since guard Miles “Deuce” McBride, a 2021 second-round pick of the New York Knicks. Small, McBride and Jevon Carter are the only Mountaineers to be picked since both Da’Sean Butler and Devin Banks were drafted in 2010.