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By Andrew Rappaport
“With the 3rd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select VJ Edgecombe.”
Those were the words the 19-year-old guard — and former Long Island Lutheran standout — had been waiting to hear.
Edgecombe was selected Wednesday night during the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Bahamas native is now headed to Philly after a breakout freshman season at Baylor University. And before he even steps on an NBA court, he’s already made history.
Until now, the honor was shared by Walt Whitman’s Tom Gugliotta and Cold Spring Harbor’s Wally Szczerbiak, who were each selected 6th overall — in 1992 and 1999, respectively.
Brentwood’s Mitch Kupchak, who won three NBA titles as a player and seven more as an executive, was picked 13th overall back in 1976.
Edgecombe joins a growing legacy of Long Island Lutheran players to reach the NBA’s first round. That list includes:
- Bill Wennington, selected 16th overall in 1985, who later won three championships with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls
- Tobias Harris, picked 19th in 2011, who starred for both LuHi and Half Hollow Hills West in Dix Hills and just wrapped his 14th NBA season
- Ryan Dunn, a 2021 LuHi graduate from Freeport, who went 28th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft
Edgecombe, who stands 6-foot-4, was a two-time Gatorade High School Player of the Year during his two seasons at LuHi. He helped lead the Crusaders to a No. 2 national ranking as a senior.
Now, he’s looking to make his mark in the City of Brotherly Love.
Highlights
Top: VJ Edgecombe greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected third by the Philadelphia 76ers In the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
