Will former Colorado State basketball player John Tonje be picked in NBA draft?

Will there be two former Colorado State men's basketball players picked in the 2025 NBA draft?It's all-but-certain that Nique Clifford will be one, with the wing expected to go in the first round.He could be joined as a former Ram in the draft by John Tonje.

The 6-foot-5 Tonje is in the draft officially as a Wisconsin player, but he spent four seasons at CSU.

Tonje went from a lightly-recruited player out of Nebraska to a key piece on CSU's 2022 NCAA Tournament team.Tonje went from averaging 3.6 points per game as a freshman to 14.6 in his final season (2023-24) at CSU.

Overall, Tonje played 122 games at CSU and averaged 8.6 points per game.He was eligible to play another season after his four at CSU due to COVID and transferred to Missouri but played in just eight games due to injury and was able to get another year of eligibility.He transferred to Wisconsin and had an All-American season with the Badgers.

Tonje averaged 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for Wisconsin.

Tonje played 167 career college games.Many mock drafts only project the first round (there are two rounds in the NBA draft), but many two-round mocks have Tonje being picked.

Here are some of the projections:ESPNJonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have a two-round mock that has Tonje being picked No.

39 overall (ninth pick in the second round) by the Toronto Raptors.The AthleticSam Vecenie's two-round mock has Tonje No.

44 overall (14th pick of second round) to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the new NBA champions.Bleacher ReportJonathan Wasserman's two-round mock has Tonje No.

58 overall (28th pick of second round) to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"After four years at Colorado State and one with Missouri, John Tonje put himself in the draft discussion by averaging 19.6 points for Wisconsin," Wasserman writes.

"He made 85 threes and 231 free throws (90.9 percent FT), as Tonje's shot-making and physical driving ability have become worth looking into for teams late in the second round."The RingerTonje is ranked as the No.

46 player overall in the draft on The Ringer's big board of prospects.

"Steady perimeter scorer who can shrewdly manipulate contact in the paint," Kyle Mann writes of Tonje."Ultimately, he projects as the kind of classic second-side scorer who often gets picked late in the second round.

His wide frame and hard-braking style in the paint might compensate for his ball security issues the same way they did in college, where he generated an obscene amount of free throw attempts this past season."Clutch PointsBrett Siegel has Tonje as the No.

50 player overall on his big board of prospects.When is the 2025 NBA draft?Here are dates and times for the NBA draft:June 25: First round of NBA draft (6 p.m.

Mountain on ABC and ESPN)June 26: Second round of NBA draft (6 p.m.

Mountain on ESPN)Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Will John Tonje be picked in NBA draft?.

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