July 1, 1999

VILLANOVA, Pa. - John Celestand, a 6-3 guard who played four years for the Villanova Wildcats, was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in last night's National Basketball Association draft. Celestand averaged 14.9 ppg in helping lead Villanova to a 21-11 record in 1998-99 and a return to the NCAA Tournament. Los Angeles made him the first choice of the second round, No. 30 overall.

Celestand becomes the fifth Villanova player to be chosen in the NBA draft since 1996. Kerry Kittles was selected No. 8 in the first round by the New Jersey Nets in 1996; Tim Thomas was chosen by the Nets at No. 7 in the first round in 1997 before being swapped to the Philadelphia 76ers in a pre-arranged deal; Jason Lawson and Alvin Williams were selected in the second round of the '97 draft by Orlando and Portland respectively. Only Arizona and Kentucky have produced more NBA draft picks over the last four years than Villanova.

A native of Piscataway, N.J., Celestand was a third team All-Big East selection in 1998-99. He was selected the Most Valuable Player at the 1998 Top of the World Classic and closed his career on the Main Line in 32nd place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,227 points.

"We are very proud of John Celestand being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers," said Villanova head coach Steve Lappas. "He follows in a long line of great Villanovans to be selected in the NBA draft."

CELESTAND'S CAREER STATISTICS

Year     GP-GS FGM-A          3FGM-A         FTM-A          REB.       PTS          A  To  ST  MIN 1995-96  30/0   35-93  (.376)  10-39 (.256)   18-26 (.692)   36 (1.3)   98 (3.3)   44  26  14  340 1996-97  34/24  97-255 (.380)  29-102 (.284)  60-91 (.659)   90 (2.6)  283 (8.3)  121 106  52  956 1997-98  29/21 136-329 (.413)  47-144 (.326)  65-90 (.722)  120 (4.1)  384 (13.2) 148 109  48 1006 1998-99  31/29 152-348 (.437)  59-154 (.383)  99-124 (.798)  96 (3.1)  462 (14.9) 137  92  41 1006 TOTALS  124/74 420-1025(.409) 145-339 (.330) 242-331 (.731) 342 (2.8) 1227 (9.9)  450 333 155 3308