Former USF center Solomon Jones became the highest-drafted Bull in school history Wednesday.

The 6-foot-10 Mount Dora native was selected in the second round by the Atlanta Hawks with the 33rd overall pick.

Jones, who averaged 13.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game during his senior season, became the first USF player taken in the NBA Draft in 20 years and the seventh in school history.

Curtis Kitchen, who was drafted in the sixth round in 1986 by the Seattle Sonics, was the last Bull selected in the draft.

After being projected by multiple mock drafts to be a late second-round pick, Jones’ name was called before Texas’s P.J. Tucker (All-Big 12 First Team), West Virginia’s Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey and Villanova’s Allan Ray (all three Big East First Team).

Jones, who played one season at Daytona Beach Community College before transferring to USF in 2004, played 59 games in a Bulls uniform and started all 29 games last season.

Along with finishing his final collegiate season in the top three in the Big East in blocked shots (3.07) and rebounds, Jones improved his draft stock by participating in two camps since the conclusion of USF’s season.

In April, Jones helped lead his team to the championship at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. His performance at the PIT helped get him an invitation to the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando earlier this month, where he took part in drills and scrimmages in front of NBA scouts, coaches and general managers.

Coming out of arguably the best conference in college basketball, Jones was one of 11 players drafted from the Big East. Villanova’s Randy Foye, who was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick but ended up in Minnesota after being traded twice, was the first Big East player selected.

Also drafted by the Hawks was Duke All-American forward Shelden Williams, who was the fifth overall pick. Jones and Williams join an Atlanta team that hasn’t finished with a record above .500 since the 1998-99 season.