For months Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates insisted Kobe Brown was a first-round NBA draft prospect despite most projections that said otherwise.
Turns out, Gates was right.
The Los Angeles Clippers selected Brown with the 30th overall choice in Thursday's NBA draft, using the final pick of the first round on the All-SEC forward.
Brown became the 16th first-round draft pick in Mizzou history and the first MU draft pick since the Denver Nuggets selected Michael Porter Jr. in the first round of the 2018 draft. Brown is the third Mizzou player drafted by the Clippers franchise and the first since Malcolm Thomas in 1985.