The NBA will hold its 79th draft on Wednesday and Thursday. Thirty first-round picks will be made starting at 7 p.m. CDT Wednesday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NBA teams have drafted 49 players from Alabama high schools and colleges in the first round, and AL.com is counting down to the 2025 draft with a decade-by-decade look at the state’s first-rounders, including the first 10 years of the 21st century:

When the 1998 and 1999 NBA drafts passed without a player from an Alabama high school or college selected in the first round, it marked the first time since 1973 and 1974 that back-to-back drafts had gone by without an Alabama-roots pick.

But the absence turned out to be more than a blip.

From 1975 through 199ne picked higher than 25th — and during the 10 drafts, just 15 state players were selected in any round.

One of those five first-rounders played in an NBA All-Star Game. Gerald Wallace had opened the decade as Alabama’s Mr. Basketball f7, 27 players with Alabama basketball roots entered the NBA as first-round picks in the 23 drafts. Eleven first-round choices in the 1980s and 10 in the 1990s had played at Alabama high schools or colleges.

But in the first decade of the 21st century, only five players with Alabama basketball roots entered the NBA as first-rounders – noor Childersburg High School in 2000, then closed it by representing the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.

The first-round NBA Draft picks from 2000 through 2009 who had played at Alabama high schools and colleges included:

2000: Mamadou N’Diaye (Auburn), No. 26 by the Denver Nuggets

N’Diaye broke Charles Barkley’s school record for blocked shots at Auburn, but he didn’t duplicate Sir Charles’ NBA success. The 7-foot center never played for the Nuggets, who traded him to the Toronto Raptors, and N’Diaye had three more stops in front of him during his five NBA seasons. In 69 NBA regular-season games, N’Diaye averaged 3.8 points and 3.3 rebounds. On Nov. 4, 2002, N’Diaye blocked eight shots in the Raptors’ 109-105 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

2001: Gerald Wallace (Childersburg High School, Alabama), No. 25 by the Sacramento Kings

Alabama’s Mr. Basketball for the 1999-2000 season at Childersburg, Wallace played one season for the Crimson Tide before a 14-year NBA career. The 6-foot-7 forward was traded five times and left the Kings for the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 expansion draft. Wallace reached career highs for the Bobcats in the 2007-08 season with averages of 19.4 points and 3.5 assists per game. “Crash” played in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. That season, he reached a career high with an average of 10.0 rebounds per game, made the NBA All-Defensive team and finished third in the voting for the Defensive Player of the Year Award. In 832 NBA regular-season games, Wallace averaged 11.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals. Wallace led the NBA with an average of 2.5 steals per game in the 2005-06 season.

2008: D.J. White (Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa), No. 29 by the Detroit Pistons

The 6-foot-9 power forward went from Hillcrest to Indiana, where he averaged 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game as a senior. On draft night, the Pistons traded White to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a deal that brought second-round pick and former Parker High School and UAB standout Walter Sharpe to Detroit. In 2013, White was traded by Boston in a deal that brought former Childersburg High School and Alabama star Gerald Wallace to the Celtics and included a first-round pick that became Crimson Tide standout Collin Sexton in the first round of the 2018 draft. In 138 NBA regular-season games, White averaged 5.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists.

2009: DeMarre Carroll (John Carroll Catholic High School in Birmingham), No. 27 by the Memphis Grizzlies

“The Junkyard Dog” played for eight teams in his 11 NBA seasons. Carroll, who entered the NBA from Missouri, reached his career highs in the 2017-2018 season when he averaged 13.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 73 games for the Brooklyn Nets. In 578 NBA regular-season games, Carroll averaged 8.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He also averaged 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 64 playoff games.

2009: Toney Douglas (Auburn), No. 29 by the Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers drafted Douglas from Florida State, but he averaged 16.9 points per game for Auburn as a freshman in the 2004-05 season before leaving the Tigers for the Seminoles. Los Angeles sent him to the New York Knicks on draft night, the first of four times that Douglas was traded during his eight NBA seasons. The 6-foot-2 guard reached his career highs during the 2010-11 season when he averaged 10.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 81 games with the Knicks. In 394 NBA regular-season games, Douglas averaged 7.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.