Eagle Staff Report

Former Texas A&M center Chinemelu Elonu was taken by the world champion Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of Thursday night's NBA draft.

The 6-foot-10 Elonu, who declared for the draft and skipped his senior season, was the next-to-last player picked. The NBA has only two rounds, which is 60 picks.

"I was getting a little nervous when there were only a couple of picks left, but I decided early in the night to just leave it all in God's hands," Elonu said. "I was with a lot of friends and family, and they gave me a lot of support. It's an honor to be drafted by the NBA champions. I think I can learn a lot from their big men and become a better player. It's also a exciting to have a chance to play for a great coach like Phil Jackson. I just want to thank everyone at A&M for all they did for me and for making this possible."

Elonu earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors last season after averaging 9.8 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds to go with 53 blocked shots. He set a school record by shooting 66.5 percent from the field.

This is the fourth time in the last five years an Aggie has been drafted into the NBA.

Antoine Wright went in the 2005 first round to the New Jersey Nets. Acie Law IV went in the 2007 first round to the Atlanta Hawks, and DeAndre Jordan went in the 2008 second round to the Los Angeles Clippers.