MACON, Ga. – Mercer University men's basketball all-time scoring leader James Florence was selected by the Reno Bighorns in the NBA Developmental League's draft on Monday, Nov. 1. Florence was taken by Reno with the first pick of the third round – and the 33^rd player selected overall – in the draft.

Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman, who coached the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA D-League prior to coming to Mercer, thinks his former star will have the chance to shine for the Bighorns.

"We are very excited for Flo," Hoffman said. "He was a tremendous asset to our program for many years and I know he will make a great contribution to the Reno team. His daily work ethic is what will give him the chance to be successful.

"The people (in Reno) are going to fall in love with him not only for his game, but for who he is as a person."

Florence rolled up 2,286 points in his 119-game, four-year stint in the Orange & Black. He was a four-time All-Atlantic Sun Conference honoree, a member of the league's all-academic team as a senior and the only player in A-Sun history to score 500 points in each of their seasons in the league.

Florence led Mercer to the title game of the A-Sun basketball championship tournament in 2010.

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