For more than a decade, Canada has become a fixture on NBA Draft night. Since 2010, 37 Canadians have been selected in the first or second round of the NBA Draft, while another 21 undrafted Canadians have gone on to earn NBA roster spots, cementing Canada’s reputation as one of basketball’s premier talent pipelines.
Remarkably, only three of those 58 players — Olivier Hanlan (2015), Justin Jackson (2018), and undrafted big man Charles Bediako — have not appeared in an NBA regular season game.
That made the 2026 NBA Draft particularly unusual.
For the first time since 2020, no Canadian-born player was selected in the NBA Draft. Yet Canadian basketball still had a connection worth celebrating when the Sacramento Kings selected Houston guard Emanuel Sharp with the 45th overall pick.
Sharp celebrated the milestone surrounded by family, friends and members of the Houston coaching staff at a draft watch party in Orlando, Florida. Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson and assistant coach K.C. Beard were among those in attendance as Sharp heard his name called by Sacramento late in the second round.
While Sharp was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and raised in Florida, his ties to Canada run deep through his mother, Hamilton native Justine Ellison Sharp. One of the most accomplished players in Canadian university basketball history, Ellison Sharp was named the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) Women’s Player of the Year in 1996 and earned First Team All-Canadian honours after leading the University of Toronto Varsity Blues to a national silver medal. Her accomplishments were later recognized with induction into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame and inclusion among the U SPORTS Top 100 Women’s Basketball Players of the Century.
Basketball excellence runs throughout the Sharp family. Emanuel’s father, Derrick Sharp, enjoyed one of the most decorated professional careers in Israeli basketball history, winning multiple EuroLeague championships and 29 titles with Maccabi Tel Aviv. A fan favourite known for his toughness, defence and clutch shooting, Derrick later represented Israel internationally and remains one of the country’s most celebrated basketball figures.
Now, three decades after his mother’s decorated collegiate career, Emanuel Sharp has reached basketball’s biggest stage.
Few players in recent NCAA history have won as consistently as Sharp did during his time at Houston. Under Hall of Fame coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars became one of college basketball’s dominant programs, posting team records of 33-4, 32-5, 35-5 and 30-7 during Sharp’s playing career. Houston’s official records credit Sharp with 125 career victories, the most by any Canadian-connected player in NCAA Division I history.
The run included multiple deep NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the 2025 NCAA Championship Game, where Houston fell just short against Florida in a heartbreaking 65-63 defeat.
Sharp’s 125 victories surpass the totals compiled by former Gonzaga star Kevin Pangos, whose Bulldogs teams went 122-20 during his collegiate career, and Kyle Wiltjer, who finished 122-25 across two seasons at Kentucky and two at Gonzaga.
In an era when elite prospects frequently transfer schools or leave early for professional opportunities, Sharp’s five-year stay at Houston stands out. Few Canadian-connected players have spent their entire college careers at a national championship contender, and none have won more games.
Winning became a defining characteristic of Sharp’s time in Houston. Former Cougars teammate and current Toronto Raptors guard Jamal Shead recently described Sharp as a “pure winner” while discussing his NBA prospects ahead of the draft.
“Eman took Coach Sampson to places he hasn’t been before,” Shead said. “You’ve got two really good winners, two pure winners.”
Sharp’s success wasn’t limited to team accomplishments. He leaves Houston as one of the most productive guards in program history, finishing his career with 1,702 points, 425 rebounds, 145 assists and 159 steals. He also graduated as Houston’s all-time leader in three-pointers made with 309, surpassing former NBA guard Marcus Sasser, and finished ninth on the program’s all-time scoring list.
His shooting numbers place him among the most prolific Canadian-connected players the NCAA has ever produced. Sharp attempted 822 three-pointers during his collegiate career, the second-highest total by a Canadian-connected player in NCAA history, while his 309 makes rank among the best ever by a player with Canadian ties.
Among Canadian-connected NCAA players who completed four-year careers before reaching the NBA, Sharp’s 1,702 career points rank ahead of Basketball Hall of Famer Steve Nash (1,689), Dwight Powell (1,465), Ryan Nembhard (1,563) and Andrew Nembhard (1,308). He finished just one point shy of former NBA veteran Rick Fox, who scored 1,703 points during his collegiate career at North Carolina.
Combined with his NCAA-record win total among Canadian-connected players, the scoring milestone further cements Sharp’s place among the most accomplished Canadian collegiate players of the modern era.
As a senior, Sharp averaged a career-best 15.5 points per game while earning First Team All-Big 12 and Big 12 All-Defensive Team honours. Known primarily for his perimeter shooting, he evolved into one of the conference’s most complete two-way guards, combining elite floor spacing with the physical defensive identity that became synonymous with Houston basketball under Sampson.
His selection by Sacramento also continues a unique tradition of NBA players with Canadian roots who were born outside the country. Steve Nash was born in South Africa, Kiki Vandeweghe in Germany, Chris Duarte in the Dominican Republic, Kyshawn George in Switzerland, and both Robert Sacre and Kyle Wiltjer in the United States.
Now Sharp joins that list.
Whether he ultimately represents Israel, Canada or another nation internationally remains to be seen. Sharp holds Israeli, American and Canadian citizenship and previously represented Israel at the FIBA U16 European Championship.
Regardless of what jersey he wears internationally, his place in Canadian basketball history is secure.
In a year when no Canadian-born player was selected in the NBA Draft, it was fitting that Canada’s lone connection came through one of the most accomplished winners the college game has seen. From his mother’s Hall of Fame legacy at the University of Toronto to his father’s legendary professional career in Israel and his own record-setting run at Houston, Sharp’s journey to the NBA reflects the increasingly global reach of Canadian basketball.
The streak of Canadian-born NBA Draft picks may have paused in 2026, but Canada’s presence on draft night endured through Emanuel Sharp — the son of a Canadian university basketball legend, the winningest Canadian-connected player in NCAA history, and now the newest member of the Sacramento Kings.
