Just a couple weeks ago, Liberty guard Taelon Peter made history by becoming the first Flame to hear his name called in the NBA Draft in 40 years when the Indiana Pacers picked him in the second round. Peter was taken as the 54th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He is the third player in program history and the first in the Division I era to be selected in the NBA Draft.
Peter is the first Flame selected in the draft in 40 years, when Cliff Webber was drafted in the fourth round by the Boston Celtics. With the selection, Peter becomes the highest NBA Draft pick in program history. Liberty’s other previous NBA Draft picks include Webber (1985/Round 4/Boston Celtics) and Ezra Hill (1984/Round 10/Phoenix Suns).
Peter has been in Indianapolis in recent days working out with his new team, and now he prepares to compete in the NBA Summer League with his first game scheduled for Thursday evening. The summer league will be held in Las Vegas from July 10-20, 2025. The Pacers’ schedule includes the Thunder, Knicks, Cavaliers, and Bulls. Peter will wear No. 4 for the Pacers during the Summer League.
As he begins to adjust to his new team and make a strong impression during the Summer League, Peter has his eyes set on joining an exclusive group of Liberty alums to make an NBA roster and play during the regular season. Julius Nwosu, the first Liberty player to play in the NBA, played 23 games for the San Antonio Spurs during the 1994-95 season. Just a few years later, Peter Aluma played two games for the Sacramento Kings during the 1998-99 season. While he didn’t finish his career at Liberty, Seth Curry has played in 550 games in the NBA, spanning 11 seasons including this past year for the Charlotte Hornets. Curry was recruited by current Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay to the Flames where he played his freshman season before transferring to Duke for the remainder of his career.
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 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.
Here’s the full Pacers Summer League schedule and how to watch Peter:
- July 10 – vs Cavaliers, 5 pm, NBA TV
- July 12 – vs Thunder, 5:30 pm, NBA TV
- July 14 – vs Bulls, 6 pm, ESPNU
- July 17 – vs Knicks, 4:30 pm, ESPN2
All 30 NBA teams will compete in five total games during the NBA2K Summer League, with four games played from July 10-17. The top four teams by winning percentage will move on to the playoffs, beginning with the semifinals on Saturday, July 19. Winners of those games will battle for the title on Sunday, July 20. The other 26 teams which do not qualify for the playoffs will each play one additional game between July 18-20.
