Jonny Flynn is expected to be a high pick in Thursday's NBA Draft, but was stuck on the bench just five years ago.

As a freshmen playing on the varsity team in Niagara Falls, N.Y., Flynn was the last man on the bench.

"I've persevered through a lot of things in my life," Flynn said when asked how it will feel to be drafted. "Getting up early in the morning, being the last guy on the bench in the ninth grade on the varsity team, and all the things that I went through."

How could Flynn, a member of the All-Big East Second Team, be a bench warmer in high school?

"They said I should have played JV, but coming out after seventh and eighth grade, where I really destroyed junior varsity, and me being a competitor, I always wanted to be on the highest level."

Just three years after being a bench warmer, Flynn averaged 15.7 points and 5.3 assists in his freshman campaign at Syracuse.

He improved those numbers to 17.4 points and 6.7 dimes this past year.