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BYU Basketball: The Top 10 Cougars in NBA Draft history

By Shaun Gordon

NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 23: Jimmer Fredette from BYU greets NBA Commissioner David Stern after he was selected #10 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round during the 2011 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center on June 23, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 23: Jimmer Fredette from BYU greets NBA Commissioner David Stern after he was selected #10 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round during the 2011 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center on June 23, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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3. Rafael Araujo

When you look at the most dominant post performers for BYU in the past 20 years, you could argue that three players are a head above the rest:

  1. Rafael Araujo
  2. Trent Plaisted
  3. Brandon Davies

All three saw time in the NBA, but Araujo is arguably the best of the three statistically, and it’s not really close.

Araujo only played for the Cougars for two years, after transferring from Arizona Western. As a junior, he averaged 12 points and 8.9 rebounds, but exploded in his senior season. He scored 18.4 points and grabbed 10.1 rebounds, leading BYU to the NCAA Tournament. He earned MWC Co-Player of the Year honors, as well as All-American nods from two different sources.

His NBA-ready body shot him up the draft boards, and the Toronto Raptors picked Araujo with the No. 8 pick in the 2004 draft.

He never found a footing in Toronto, though, and only lasted two seasons there. After the 2005-06 season, the Raptors traded him to the Utah Jazz, where he saw limited time as a backup big.

When the Jazz signed Kyrylo Fesenko during the offseason, Araujo found himself out of the NBA.

During those three years in the NBA, Araujo 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He found a landing spot in Russia during the 2007-08 season, before finally returning to his native Brazil to play professionally there.

He became a mainstay in Brazil’s NBB, playing for five years with five different teams. He walked way from his playing career in 2014.

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