Been wondering since last night if there’s a reason why we didn’t hear Brandon Ashley and T.J. McConnell’s names? Me too.

Last night two things were going on in my life. One was the NBA Draft, big, the other was an Ed Sheeren concert at the Hollywood Bowl. I took to announcing the draft results in line for the shuttle to the Bowl, on the shuttle, in line for 20 minutes to get a turkey wrap and a water (I was the DD), and all the way to my seat.

I was totally disappointed that Brandon Ashley and T.J. McConnell‘s names were not called and decided to try to enjoy the fab concert. By the way if you ever get a chance, what a heck of a performer Ed Sheeren is, the concert was something else, just Ed and his Guitar. But I digress.

Back in line at the shuttle to get back to our car, I went back to twitter and my texts from ZonaZealots writer Mark Barerra to get the latest draft news. And what do you know? Brandon was picked up by the Lakers for Summer League! A Wildcat on my favorite NBA team was just the pick up I needed to be able to smile again.

The Lakers have added Brandon Ashley and Robert Upshaw to their Summer League roster. http://t.co/dINBkFTD6S pic.twitter.com/bT2RPlCKHz — Lake Show Life (@TheLakeShowLife) June 26, 2015

This was short lived, maybe 24 hours or so later, it was announced on Twitter that Brandon will now play with the Atlanta Hawks summer league team. Yes, he changed his mind on Saturday.

I guess playing with Julius Randle who is back from a game one season ending injury from last year, Jordan Clarkson who was extremely impressive last season as well as Tarik Black and Jabari Brown was going to be a challenge. A challenge in that there were too many great players to compete with to get playing time and show his skills. He was going to also play with fellow former Pac-12 player Washington’s Robert Upshaw who are both Findley Prep High School alumni.

Jan 30, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard T.J. McConnell (4) shoots the ball during the second half against the Oregon State Beavers at McKale Center. Arizona won 57-34. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

The next great bit of news came from Arizona Daily Star’s Bruce Pascoe that T.J. McConnell was picked up by the 76’ers for their Summer League team. Great!

In Bruce’s article on what went down after the draft, he explains that after working out for 15 teams (16 work-outs, twice with the Spurs), T.J.’s agent Chris Emens was offered a second round pick with the 76’ers, but would probably end up playing in the D-League without any guarantees.

Instead he landed a post-draft invite to Detroit’s summer league team and a partially guaranteed contract “worth six figures” and that’s even if he gets cut. If he gets cut he becomes a free agent or play on a D-League team; a much better deal. McConnell’s dad Tim explains:

“T.J. said he had a good feeling about a couple of teams, and Philadelphia was one of them,” Tim McConnell said. “He’s going to give it a shot and see what happens. The worst thing that can happen is he goes to the D-League.”

T.J. McConnell's agent says deal w Sixers not just summer league invite but partially guaranteed contract worth "six figures" even if cut. — Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) June 26, 2015

Fans in line were happy for us, but it got me thinking…who the heck were some of these players getting drafted who I have never heard of?

The Orlando Magic chose Tyler Harvey (Eastern Washington) as their No. 50 pick. I am sure he’s a great player, but have you ever heard of him? Did he lose any games on his home court? How far did his team get in the tournament last year? They lost in the first round to Georgetown by 10 points, 74-84.

Who the heck is Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming, the No. 27 pick the Lakers drafted? Again, I’m sure he did a great job at Wyoming, but honestly I have not heard one word about this guy except he called out Kobe Bryant as a rapist years ago on Twitter. Nance deleted the tweet last night after it started circulating again, he must have forgotten about it, oops!

Wyoming came in 4th in the Mountain West division and lost by 17 points in the second round of the NCAA tournament 54-71 to the University of Northern Iowa.

Wildcats McConnell and Ashley have competed on the national stage more than once and in more games with more on the line. They helped their team reach the Elite Eight, and one wonders what would have happened if Stanley Johnson didn’t get stuck in the eye during the game? Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was injured the game before, it might have had something to do with the Wildcats psyche and Stanley said later he couldn’t even see.

They could have won that game, I just think there were some freak injuries caused by their own teammates in their attempt to leave everything they had for themselves and their team.

Mar 26, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Brandon Ashley (21) reacts against Xavier Musketeers during the first half in the semifinals of the west regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

How many of the players drafted actually were put in very tense and high pressure situations as these Arizona Wildcats were put in? They played teams which they had lost to in the past in front of the nation. They played against a team with coach who was mentored by their coach, and which had a huge football size center that never fouls anyone.

It boggles my mind. I am thinking that there are now a ton of Data Scientists and Analysts out there being employed to help the GM’s with stats, and maybe that’s what helped them come to their decisions.

Poor Phil Jackson was slammed on major sports news shows this morning about picking Latvian Kristaps Porzingis as his No. 4 pick. Can’t wait to see how that pick turns out for the Knicks. Maybe Jackson thinking Porzingis has a Kobe attitude; relentless and full of attitude.

Whatever the case, there is more Wildcats NBA news to cover.

Stanley Johnson went No. 8 to the Pistons which was about or a little higher than projected.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson went No. 23, and instead of taking his famous shimmy to the Portland Trailblazers who drafted him, he is taking his talents to Brooklyn to play for the Nets as there was a trade post announcement. I was kind of bummed out as the Trailblazers come to Los Angeles to play, and I was looking forward to that.

I give Rondae an A+ for originality on his outfit, seems he took a page out of Kevin Parrom‘s book as Rondae’s pants looked a little like Kevin’s shirt in the Instagram post below.

In an outfit Dr. Jack would approve of. RT @BenGolliver: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to the Blazers at No. 23 pic.twitter.com/WEVQtEBDsx — Lindsay Schnell (@Lindsay_Schnell) June 26, 2015

Whatever the case, I am a proud Wildcats fan today, and I feel better knowing that these two are playing in the Summer League which I am finding out seems to be a better deal sometimes that being drafted and dropped.

Beardown T.J. and Bash! And Stanley and Rondae!

We will be watching and cheering for you.