Kosta Koufos’ dream was finally realized tonight as he was just selected as the 23rd pick in the 1st round of the 2008 NBA Draft at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Kosta watched the draft from the comfort of his Canton home and learned he will be a member of the Utah Jazz for at least the beginning years of his NBA career.

Kosta, a 7-1 freshman phenom, came on strong as the season progressed and averaged 14.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg as he led the Buckeyes to a NIT title. With his draft stock rising quickly, Koufos decided to quit school in the middle of OSU’s Spring Quarter and began working out in preparation for tonight’s draft. He worked out impressively and looked bigger and stronger than many scouts expected, raising his draft stock immensely among the bigger players.

Kosta’s quick departure caused some animosity towards him by loyal OSU fans because he has caused OSU some serious APR problems by leaving during the quarter, which could result in sanctions by the NCAA and lead to future scholarship losses. This has caused a lot of spite towards him in Columbus and the usual excitement for a Buckeye professional player isn’t as strong as usual.

Most think Kosta could have gained a lot experience wise and draft (money) wise by staying another year in school. Kosta and his mother felt Thad Matta was playing him out of position by him playing at the center position. Teaming Kosta up next year with BJ Mullens would have moved him back to power forward position permanently and the tandem would have been one of the best C PF combos in the country.

Instead OSU loses a lot of depth and looks to be an extremely young team while Kosta will look to launch a long and successful professional career in the NBA.

Also, as expected, Derrick Rose was selected 1st overall to the Chicago Bulls and Michael Beasley went 2nd to the Miami Heat, followed by part time Ohioan OJ Mayo.

Look out for later in the draft as OSU’s Othello Hunter has a small possibility of being a late 2nd round pick later tonight but in all likelihood Othello and teammate Jamar Butler will not be drafted.

Opinions on where Kosta was drafted? Success in the NBA? Possible APR sanctions for OSU?

Check out Ohio State’s newspaper “The Lantern” and DTI’s Dave on KoufosÂ