Amjyot Singh was selected to play for the Oklahoma City (OKC) Blue, affiliate team of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, in the NBA G league draft held in New York on Sunday.

An alumni of the Ludhiana Basketball Academy, which has also trained top players like Satnam Singh Bhamara, who also made it to NBA becoming the first Indian to do so, Amritpal Singh and Jagdeep Singh, Amjyot was part of the 146 players eligible to be selected in the draft.

As he waited with bated breath, Amjyot became the 103rd pick in the fourth round fulfilling his dream of playing in NBA.

“I was very excited when the drafts started. It was a relief when I was picked but watching the drafts and being part of it was exciting. It’s an awesome feeling to get drafted in the NBA G League. Thank you to all my supporters and well-wishers back home. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity with OKC Blue,” Amjyot said, who is a sub inspector in Punjab Police.

Amjyot who is a vital cog in the Indian national team and played as stellar role in the 2017 FIBA Asia Challenge averaged 13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 32.8 minutes. He led the tournament in free-throw percentage

Amjyot led the Indian men’s national basketball team at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup and has been representing India since 2010. He also represented Tokyo Excellence in the National Basketball Development League – Japan in 2015-16 season. The power forward has also been an Asian All-Star for 2015 and 2016.

During the four-round draft no trades were permitted and only players signed to an NBA G League Standard Player Contract were eligible to be selected. There were 26 teams in the draft list and each team was required to make at least three selections during the draft. Once a team declines to make a pick, it may not make another selection for the remainder of the event.

“A lot of people have helped me in this journey, but I want to thank my mother. She has been always there for me and has helped me a lot. I am here today because of her,” Amjyot said, thanking his mother Nirmal Kaur Gill.

His father Mohinder Singh Gill is Sub- inspector in Chandigarh Police and is a former national-level basketball player.

The NBA G League will start its 2017-18 season from November 3.