And so, the streak ends. Rick Jackson did not hear his named called during the 2011 NBA Draft and Syracuse goes draftless for the first time since 2007.
It's not a terrible shock, least it shouldn't be. Jackson, while a beast this past season, has a lot of questions related to his offensive game and long-term viability.
Perhaps if his named was Rikus Jaksonitis he would have had a better chance of being drafted. 13 foreign players were drafted, making it that much tougher for fringe draftees from American colleges to get called. Normally Jackson would still have a perfectly good chance to make an NBA team by playing in the Summer League and then joining on with a team's mini-camp, but neither looks possible now with a lockout looming.
So, does Rick venture East to Europe or West to the Pacific Rim while he waits for the NBA to sort itself out? We shall see.
Of course, one former Syracuse player did hear his name during draft night. Jonny Flynn got a long-overdue trade out of Minnesota to Houston where he'll get a fresh start with the Rockets.
Jonny Flynn's time with the Minnesota Timeberwolves has come to an end, as the former Syracuse basketball guard was traded along with Donatas Motiejunas, a 7-footer from Lithuania who was the No. 20 pick in the draft, to the Houston Rockets for the 23rd and 38th picks in Thursday night's draft, a future first-round pick and center Brad Miller.
Of course, rumors are already swirling that Flynn could be on the move again, so don't go ordering that Rocket's jersey just yet. Now all we need is the Rockets to trade Jonny to the Knicks, while New York also signs Rick Jackson to a free agent deal and we'll be one step closer to having an NBA team comprised entirely of Syracuse players.