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If Jared Berggren were drafted in Thursday night's NBA Draft, it would've been a considerable surprise. But as a 6-foot-10 big man with a silky jumper, fantastic mobility and true shot-blocking instincts, who would be surprised if he did find a way into the league? On Friday, he drew one step closer to making that happen by signing with the Orlando Magic.
Congrats to @JBerggren40 on signing with the @Orlando_Magic. The #NBA Journey begins...
— Patrick Herb (@BadgerMBB) June 28, 2013
The Magic drafted Indiana guard Victor Oladipo with the second overall pick, reuniting Berggren with a former Big Ten running mate. That'd be a cool coincidence if they didn't already have a more notable, uhh, connection, as Wisconsin's official men's basketball Twitter recalled:
Great stuff. Orlando currently has two players on its roster who can play center in 7-footer Nikola Vucevic and 6-foot-9, 289-pound (!) Glen Davis. Kyle O'Quinn, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward who just wrapped up his rookie season, can also play center. It remains to be seen what's next for Berggren, though you can imagine Summer League is in his future.
Berggren ended his college career on a high note in 2012-13, setting career highs in points (11.0), rebounds (6.9) and blocks (2.1) per game. He was a consensus second-team All-Big Ten honoree and was named to the conference's All-Defensive team, and for the second year in a row played in every one of Wisconsin's games.