NEW YORK (KSEE) – On June 19th, 1984, the Houston Rockets selected Hakeem Olajuwon with the No. 1 overall pick in that year’s NBA Draft. Michael Jordan went No. 3 to the Bulls, Charles Barkley went no. 5 to the 76ers and John Stockton went No. 16 to the Jazz.
Bernard Thompson went No. 19 to the Trail Blazers.
Thompson, a senior at Fresno State, was the first Bulldog to ever get taken in the first round of the NBA Draft. He was coming off of a season in which he was first team all-PCAA and an honorable mention all-American. Thompson played for the Bulldogs from 1981-1984, and he scored 1,452 points in 121 games.
38 years later, he is the tenth-leading scorer in Fresno State men’s basketball history.
Bernard Thompson and teammate Ron Anderson were known as the “Bookend Forwards” at Fresno State. Among their many accomplishments, they helped the Bulldogs win the 1983 NIT.
