DEERFIELD, Ill. – The Chicago Bulls selected Florida’s Joakim Noah with the ninth pick in Thursday’s draft and addressed their biggest need – a big man.

The Bulls lacked a low-post scoring presence, and although the 6-foot-11 Noah is not known for his shot, he helped Florida win the NCAA championship the past two years.

He averaged 12.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks as a junior last season, when the Gators became the first program to win back-to-back titles in 15 years. And he came up big a year earlier, when he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 Final Four.

Noah, whose dad Yannick won the 1983 French Open and is in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has a strong athletic pedigree.

“I feel so fortunate, so blessed,” he told ESPN.

Noah was the third Gator drafted, after Atlanta selected Al Horford at No. 3 and Minnesota took Corey Brewer with the seventh pick.

Noah joins a team that took a big step this past season, winning 49 games and advancing in the playoffs for the first time since 1998 after back-to-back first-round exits. The Bulls swept defending champion Miami in the first round and forced a sixth game before losing to Detroit. And they boast a relatively young but experienced core that includes Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich.

Deng had his best season, setting career-highs in scoring average (18.8 points), rebounds (7.1) and shooting (51.7 percent). Gordon, a frequent subject of trade rumors, averaged a career-high 21.4 points.

But Chicago still lacked a reliable inside threat.

The Bulls, who acquired the ninth pick from New York in the Eddy Curry trade in October 2005, also have the 49th and 51st selections.