Charles Bassey got the call he was waiting for Thursday night, as the former Western Kentucky men’s basketball star was picked by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft.

Bassey, the Hilltoppers’ standout 6-foot-11 center, was the No. 53 overall pick in the draft and became the first WKU player selected in the draft since Jeremy Evans in 2010.

Bassey averaged 17.6 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in 28 games this past season as a junior for the 21-8 Hilltoppers. Bassey ranked fourth nationally in blocks per game, fourth in defensive rebounds per game, fifth in total rebounds per game, second in double-doubles and 12th in field goal percentage.

The Lagos, Nigeria, native was named a Third-Team All-American by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and USA Today, as well as a Second-Team selection by Basketball Times and honorable mention by The Associated Press. He was WKU’s first USBWA All-American since Jim McDaniels in 1971. He was also on the Wooden Award National Ballot, a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist and a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year top-five finalist.

Bassey was named C-USA’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, after earning seven weekly awards from the league this past season for the 21-8 Hilltoppers – breaking the record for Player of the Week awards in a single season. Bassey was the fourth player in Conference USA history to win the league’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season.

He started in WKU’s first 10 games in the 2019-20 season before suffering a season-ending tibial plateau fracture in his left leg during an overtime victory against Arkansas on Dec. 7. Prior to that, he was averaging 15.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 28.1 minutes per game.

As a freshman, Bassey started all 34 games and led WKU with 14.6 points, 10 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 62.7% from the field. He was named C-USA Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year – just the second player in league history to win both in the same season – and was one of five national finalists and the only freshman for the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Center of the Year award.

Also Thursday night, former Hilltopper Dalano Banton – who played his freshman season at WKU before transferring to Nebraska – was selected in the second round (No. 46 overall) by the Toronto Raptors. Banton is the first Canadian ever drafted by the Raptors.