The legend of Nate Wolters returns to South Dakota Thursday night when the Milwaukee Bucks play the Minnesota Timberwolves in preseason NBA action.
Minnesotans might remember Wolters from his high school days at St. Cloud Tech. His Tech squad lost to Hopkins in the Class 4A state championship game his senior year. That Hopkins team was led by fellow NBA player Royce White. Wolters outscored White 17-14 in the game.
The 6-foot-4, 190 pound Wolters went on to make a name for himself at South Dakota State University.
He was named a 2012 third-team All-American by the Associated Press — the first player ever from the Summit League to earn such an honor.
Wolters started throughout his four-year career with the Jackrabbits, eventually leading SDSU to its first ever NCAA tournament appearance last season. SDSU played No. 4-seed Michigan tough, but fell to the eventual national runner-up in the first-round, 71-56.
The jump to the NBA has been a transition for Wolters, who now comes off the bench in a limited role… a big change from his college days.
”I played all 40 minutes of the game, basically, and had a lot of freedom and shot a lot,” Wolters told Yahoo! Sports. ”Coming here, I don’t really know how much time I’ll play or when I’ll get in. It’ll be a totally different adjustment and something I’m looking forward to.”
Wolters’ path to the draft was simple. He was a stud so he got picked. His path through the draft was anything but simple. He was traded twice on draft night.
The Wizards took him with the 38th overall pick — a pick Wolters’ college coach Scott Nagy believes was way too low — then he was dealt from Washington to Philadelphia, where the 76ers eventually turned around and traded him to the Bucks.
Thursday’s game against Minnesota will be Wolters’ second career NBA game. He finished with 2 points on 0-3 shooting in his preseason debut earlier this week.
