Peter selected by Pacers in 2nd Round of NBA Draft, highest pick in program history

Liberty Flames guard Taelon Peter has been drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft. He was taken as the 54th overall pick and is the third player in program history and the first in the Division I era to be selected in the NBA Draft.

With the selection, Peter becomes the highest NBA Draft pick in program history. He is the first Flame selected in the draft in 40 years; Cliff Webber was drafted in the fourth round by the Boston Celtics in 1985, a year after Ezra Hill was drafted in Round 10 by the Phoenix Suns.

Peter had a pre-draft workout with the Pacers, one of seven teams he worked out with: Celtics, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, and Charlotte Hornets.

Peter enjoyed a strong 2024-25 season with the Liberty Flames, as he was named the CUSA Sixth Player of the Year, tabbed to the All-CUSA third team and honored on the CUSA Championship All-Tournament team. He was the team’s leading scorer (13.7 ppg) on the year despite only starting two times. The guard shot 57.8 percent from the field and 45.3 percent from three. Peter’s three-point percentage during the 2024-25 season established a new school single-season record. Peter earned CUSA Player of the Week honors on March 9.

Peter had three games of 30 or more points, including a pair of 33-point games in league play on the road at Louisiana Tech and Middle Tennessee. His 33-point efforts were both the highest scoring output of any player off the bench in program history. He averaged 16.5 ppg in 18 league regular season games while shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 45.2 percent from three. The Russellville, Ark. native averaged 15.0 ppg on 76.2 percent shooting in three CUSA championship games.

Peter scored 20 or more points nine times. He scored 20 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting (3-of-3 from three) in the CUSA title game triumph over Jacksonville State. He notched his first double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds) as a Flame in a win at UTEP.

Peter and the Flames finished the year with a 28-7 overall record and 13-5 CUSA mark, winning both the CUSA regular season and tournament titles.

Peter played for Arkansas Tech for three seasons prior to transferring to Liberty for his final year. He was the 2023-24 GAC Player of the Year and averaged 18.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 2.3 apg during his final season with Arkansas Tech. Peter, a five-time GAC Player of the Week that year, also received All-GAC first team honors as well as D2CCA All-Central Region first team recognition.