Dunwoody High's Chris Singleton Taken 18th in NBA Draft

DeKalb County had two first round picks and two second picks during the 2011 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft on Thursday night.

The first alum to hear his name called was former Dunwoody star Chris Singleton (6-9, 230) who went 18th overall to the Washington Wizards. Singleton played three years as a small forward at Florida State after signing with the Seminoles out of Dunwoody High School.

"I feel like I'm going to fit in right off the bat," he said in a post draft press conference. "We have an up and coming team and we're goign to try to push to the playoffs."

Singleton, a two-time All-ACC First Team player and two-time All-ACC Defensive Player of the Year (2010-11) led the Seminoles in scoring and rebounding during 2011 with 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. He was a Class AAA All-State selection as a senior at Dunwoody as he led the Wildcats to a 27-4 record while averaging 21.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game.

"I feel like I fit in well. It's a team that intrigues me," the former DHS standout said in an interview with Craig Sager. 

Sager said Singleton was known as "perhaps the best defensive player in the draft."

Singleton said he has worked on his offensive presence in his post college workouts.

"I wasn't as aggressive as I probably needed to be at sometimes," he said about his offense at Florida State. "That's what I showed in these workouts, how aggressive I am."

He said he's improving on those skills.

"I'm a developing offensive player," he said in a post-draft press conference. "My shot's getting better, my ball handling is getting better, my playmaking ability is getting better."

Defense is still his speciality. 

"I still feel like I can guard one through four," he said, after Sager noted that Singleton could guard all positions in college. "Fives are a little thicker, I don't know if I can bang with them. But if I'm called to do it, I'm going to do it."

He said making it to the professional level is a dream come true.

"I feel like this NBA level is something I was made for, something I dreamed about and something I'm going to take full advantage of," he said.

Singleton wasn't the only DeKalb County standout picked in Thursday night's draft.

Former Tucker Tiger Marshon Brooks (6-5, 201) was next in the opening round as the 25th pick to the Boston Celtics. Brooks was senior shooting guard/small forward coming out of Providence following his high scoring senior season. Brooks was later traded to the New Jersey Nets in a draft day deal.

Brooks earned All-Big East and Third Team All-America honors in 2011 after ranking nationally in scoring at a 24.63 point clip. He scored a Big East record of 52 points in a win against Notre Dame in 2011 and was the only player in the nation to average 24 points and 7 rebounds.  Brooks averaged 20.1 points, 6.0 assists and 8.0 rebounds during his All-State senior season at Tucker. The Tigers finished 31-2 and as the Class AAAA state champions in 2007.

Stone Mountain’s Andrew Goudelock (6-3, 200) was the 46th overall pick and
16th of the second round as the Los Angeles Lakers picked up the high scoring point guard from College Charleston.

Goudelock became the all-time leading scorer for the College of Charleston as he completed his career with 2,571 points. He led the Southern Conference with a 23.7 points per game average while adding 4.2 assists on his way to becoming the first College of Charleston male athlete to be named the Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year for 2011.

Charleston reached the quarterfinals of the NIT as Goudelock scored 39 points in the first round victory over Dayton. He also earned his third consecutive All-Southern Conference First Team honors in 2011.

Former Columbia All-State player Travis Leslie (6-4, 202) followed right behind Goudelock as the 47th pick overall going to the Los Angeles Clippers as the 17th choice of the second round. Leslie was a junior at Georgia in 2011.

The Georgia Bulldog finished his career with 1,099 points, 551 rebounds, 191 assists and 104 steals and was named to the Coaches All-SEC Second Team in 2011. He averaged 14.4 points, 7.18 rebounds and 2.84 assists in 2011 as he helped lead the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament.

Leslie was named the AJC’s Class AAAA Player of the Year in 2008 as he led the Columbia Eagles to the Class AAAA state title while averaging 21.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Mark Brock is the Athletics Statistician and Information Officer for DeKalb County Schools Athletics.