Lamar Patterson’s dream of playing in the NBA is that much closer to coming true.

The former Pitt men’s basketball player was selected 48th overall in the NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The news came late Thursday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., the site of the event.

Patterson, the 18th pick of the second round, would be traded to the Atlanta Hawks soon after the initial announcement. Second-round selections in the NBA Draft are not guaranteed contracts.

Patterson’s selection marks the second time in two years that a Panther has gone in the draft. Steven Adams went to the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 12th overall pick in 2013.

Adams and Patterson, along with other former Pitt players DeJuan Blair and Aaron Gray, make up the school’s current NBA collective.

As a redshirt senior last season, Patterson led the team in assists (4.3) and scoring (17.1 points per game), as well as three-pointers made (80) at a .388 mark.

He’s the 29th Pitt player to hear his name called in either the NBA or the ABA draft.  

Former teammate Talib Zanna wasn’t drafted but could receive an invite from a team to participate with its summer league squad in the coming days.

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