Former Michigan wing Ignas Brazdeikis believed he proved himself in the lead-up to the NBA draft. Turns out he was right. Brazdeikis was taken in the second round by the New York Knicks with the No. 47 overall pick in Thursday's draft, who reportedly traded up with Sacramento to select him. Brazdeikis is the second former U-M player taken in this draft, after Jordan Poole was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the first round with the No. 28 pick. Brazdeikis, listed at 6 feet 7 and 215 pounds, is former coach John Beilein's first one-and-done player. He was U-M's top-ranked recruit in the 2018 class. The Canadian quickly emerged as one of the top scorers in the Big Ten this past season, leading Michigan with 14.8 points per game. Brazdeikis was an aggressive player who attacked the basket and also shot 39% from 3-point range. He was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and became well-known for his abundance of confidence and swagger. Still, it was far from a given that Brazdeikis would hear his name Thursday. ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The Athletic did not include Brazdeikis in their final two-round mock drafts. There were plenty of questions surrounding Brazdeikis heading into the draft. Prognosticators wondered whether he would be able to defend at the next level. It was also fair to question his outside shooting — he mostly took catch-and-shoot 3s at Michigan — and whether he could fill out the rest of his offensive game, as Brazdeikis averaged 0.8 assists per game. Brazdeikis also had to prove to NBA teams that he could play the '3', as they didn't view him as a '4' — the position he played at Michigan. Still, he went into the draft feeling confident he had proved himself throughout the predraft process. “I think definitely that I’ve been able to prove I’m a perimeter player, that I can play the 3 (small forward position) in the NBA and that I’m showing a lot of skills that I have that I feel like I haven’t gotten the chance to show at Michigan this year," Brazdeikis told the Free Press on Tuesday. "So playing in front of these teams and then these small individual workouts, I was able to show off my perimeter skills and my ability to dribble the ball and just making plays. And then defensively, my versatility to defend multiple positions, whether it’s bigger guys, smaller guys.” Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang . Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter .