His draft value got boosted after averaging 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in his sophomore season. As a result, UCONN won more games than the previous year and made it to the elite eight before losing to George Mason in a close overtime game. People had high hopes on Rudy Gay coming out of college. He was projected high on many mock drafts, with third being the highest I've seen. But Gay did not get drafted third overall, nor fourth or fifth, and instead he fell to eighth and finally got picked by the Houston Rockets. Houston would trade Gay and Stromile Swift to the Memphis Grizzlies for Shane Battier straight after drafting him.
