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Nine of the 60 players taken in Thursday's NBA Draft came out of the conference, including two apiece from Louisville, Pittsburgh and UConn.

"Now we can finally see that it's the best conference," said Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn, who was chosen at No. 6 by Minnesota.

"When you have all these guys getting picked out of the Big East, it definitely prepared me. Every night playing against NBA talent prepared me for what you're going against."

Seven Big East teams made the NCAA Tournament this past season, five advanced to the Sweet 16 and two -- UConn and Villanova -- reached the Final Four in Detroit, although neither made the championship game.

Four Big East players went in the first round, led by 7-foot-3 UConn center Hasheem Thabeet, who was taken at No. 2 by Memphis after the Los Angeles Clippers selected Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin at No. 1.

In Thabeet's native Tanzania, people crowded into bars in the middle of the night to watch the first player from their country drafted into the NBA. Yet Thabeet was able to share the moment here with his mother, Rukia Manka.

"It's a blessing," said Thabeet. "The first five years I didn't get to see my family and ... I used to speak to them on the phone every two or three weeks, and now they are here and get to experience this with me. I don't even know how to explain that. It's just a great feeling and I'm happy that she was there to experience it."

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim puts Thabeet in the same category defensively with Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and other big-time seven-footers.

"He's never gonna score, but he can be a tremendous player defensively," Boeheim told Dan Patrick's radio show.

As for Boeheim's player, the 5-11 Flynn out of Niagara Falls, N.Y., joined a Minnesota team that drafted three point guards in the first round, only to turn around and trade one of them (Ty Lawson) to Denver.

The Timberwolves also chose Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio at No. 5, but must still negotiate the $6.6 million buyout from his Spanish club. Rubio's father, Esteve, told the Spanish Web site Marca.com that Rubio "is likely staying in Europe one or two years."

Two players from the Louisville team that was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament went after Flynn. The Nets took forward Terrence Williams at No. 11, and Phoenix selected forward Earl Clark, a Rahway, N.J., native, at No. 14.

Williams, the emotional leader of Louisville's team last year, will join the Nets in the post-Vince Carter era, after Carter was traded to Orlando.

Williams says he's the best perimeter defender in the draft.

"A lot of guys pride themselves on scoring the ball, I pride myself on defense," he said. "I love playing defense. I get a joy out of that, getting a steal, getting a block, or something like that."

Villanova forward Dante Cunningham was chosen No. 33 by Portland and Georgetown wing DaJuan Summers went two picks later to Detroit.

Two Pitt players expected to go in the first round fell to the second.

Forward Sam Young went No. 36 to Memphis and DeJuan Blair, the Co-Big East Player of the Year along with Thabeet, was chosen at No. 37 by San Antonio.

Blair saw his draft stock plummet because he has a limited offensive repertoire and has had two ACL surgeries. Still, various experts believe he'll be a force in the league. The 6-6 Blair manhandled Thabeet during one game in Hartford last season won by the Panthers.

"Blair and Young should've been first-round picks," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said.

When UConn guard A.J. Price of Amityville, N.Y., went at No. 52 to Indiana, it completed a big evening for the Big East.

"It shows you that we were the best conference hands down," Williams said. "A lot of people say that [it was] the ACC or the Big 10. No, it shows that our conference is the best, hands down. And it just shows what type of games we had to play each and every night and how tough it was."