For the first time in almost a decade, Northwestern has a player on an NBA roster.
The New York Knicks have signed former Wildcat forward John Shurna to a partially guaranteed contract, a New York Times basketball reporter tweeted Monday night. This makes Shurna the first NU player to make it to the NBA since Evan Eschmeyer signed with the New Jersey Nets in 1999.
Teammates took to Twitter to congratulate the longtime star. Senior forward Drew Crawford tweeted, “Congrats to John Shurna on signing to hoop with the Knicks! My homie shall continue to get buckets.” Sophomore point guard Dave Sobolewski wrote, “Just talked to my man Shurna, out in NYC with the Knicks. Couldn’t be happier for him. Good luck Shurn!”
The contract does not guarantee Shurna, who graduated in June, a spot on the Knicks’ final 13-man roster. Shurna worked out for 13 teams over the summer, leading some to speculate that a team would use a second-round pick on the sharp-shooting forward. He went undrafted, however, becoming a free agent.
Shurna led the Big Ten in scoring last season, averaging 20.0 points per game on his way to being named first-team All-Big Ten. For his career, Shurna is No. 1 on the all-time NU lists for points (2,038), games played (130), and blocked shots (136). He is also second in games started at 128.
