Josh Howard was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft (the 29th pick overall) Thursday night by the Dallas Mavericks.

-- Howard watched the Draft Thursday night from the home of his mother, Nancy Henderson. Nearly 40 family members and friends were in attendance.

-- Howard gives Wake Forest NBA Draft selections in back-to-back years. Darius Songaila was taken in the second round of the 2002 Draft by the Boston Celtics with the 50th overall pick.

-- Howard is the first Deacon to be chosen in the first round since Tim Duncan was the No. 1 overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs in 1997.

-- Howard is the 10th Deacon overall to be drafted in the first round. He joins Duncan, Muggsy Bogues (1987), Len Chappell (1962), Randolph Childress (1995), Kenny Green (1995), Rod Griffin (1978), Dickie Hemric (1955), Frank Johnson (1981), and Rodney Rogers (1993).

-- Seven former Deacons have been taken in the second round, most recently Songaila in 2002.

-- Howard gives the Deacons a first-round draft pick in football (Calvin Pace), baseball (Kyle Sleeth) and men's basketball in the same academic year for the first time in school history. The "hat trick" has been accomplished just twice since 1998 - by Fresno State last year and by Florida in 1998. The last ACC school to have a player taken in the first round of all three drafts came in 1994-95 by Florida State when Derrick Brooks and Derrick Alexander went in the NFL Draft, Bob Sura in the NBA Draft and Jonathan Johnson and David Yocum in the MLB Draft. Florida State also did it in 1993-94 and Clemson in 1986-87.

-- The Mavericks are sending a plane Friday to take Josh to Dallas.

-- Howard's prep school teammate, David West, was also taken in the first round.

Quotes from Howard: "I'm blessed. I'm happy. I'm excited. The last week has really been nerve-racking. I was surprised to be taken by Dallas, only because I did not work out for them and really had not contact with them prior to the Draft. But I am very pleased to go to a team, a championship-caliber team, that has great players, a great coach and great fan support. This is going to be a learning experience for me. I'm going to have my ups and downs.

"I like the way they (the Mavericks) play. They get up and down the court, just like we did in Coach (Skip) Prosser's system. I'm used to that style. But like I said, this is going to be a learning experience for me. I can learn a lot from great players like Michael Finley."