NEW YORK -- The San Antonio Spurs drafted former Georgia high school basketball standout Jaron Blossomgame Thursday night in the NBA Draft No. 59 overall.
Blossomgame, 23, played at Chattahoochee High School in Johns Creek, Georgia before signing with the Clemson Tigers in 2013. He also played for the AAU Georgia Stars.
Video: New spur Jaron Blossomgame enjoying the moment #GoSpursGo #spurs pic.twitter.com/Wv2ybMfs6o
— JeffGSpursZone (@JeffGSpursZone) June 23, 2017
The forward joins the Spurs, who were in the Western Conference Finals last season. He's from Alpharetta, Georgia.
"It feels great man," Blossomgame told San Antonio's NBC station, News4SA. It's definitely a blessing considering the things I've been through. Definitely a surreal feeling walking across that stage tonight but it was definitely very special tonight for me."
The Spurs showed interest in Blossomgame during the NBA Combine, and he worked out with them before the draft. Head coach Greg Popovich and others in the organization were impressed by his game.
"They obviously followed me a lot last year, interviewed me at the combine last year, worked me out last year so I'm very familiar with everything they have going on there. I knew from the jump they've always liked me, so it's no surprise they picked me," he said.
Blossomgame set school records for points, rebounds and blocked shots at Chattahoochee. He redshirted his freshman year at Clemson, then played for four years and scored the fifth-most points in the program's history. In his junior year, he was the ACC's Most Improved Player. Last season, he averaged 25.8 points per game.
Congrats @JaronBgame #hoochfam #gospurs https://t.co/wtF5ZYPFee
— HoochAD (@hoochathletics) June 23, 2017