AUBURN HILLS, Mich. ­– The Detroit Pistons announced Tuesday that the club has signed first round draft choice Andre Drummond to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Detroit was able to pick Drummond with the ninth pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, adding another young big man to go along with Greg Monroe inside. The 6-foot-10, 270-pound Drummond averaged 10 points and 7.6 rebounds last season as an 18-year-old freshman.

He will join Brandon Knight and Monroe — Detroit’s last two first-round picks — as part of a young nucleus the Pistons hope they can build around. Detroit has missed the playoffs the last three seasons.

“We have two young big men now. Greg is 22 years old, and Andre is obviously 18,” Pistons President Joe Dumars said. “Brandon is 20 years old. … We feel good about the young core of guys we’ve drafted the last few years.”

Drummond, who was an early-entry candidate for the 2012 NBA Draft and selected by the Pistons with the ninth pick, averaged 10.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.7 blocks last season as a freshman for the University of Connecticut.

In 34 games, he shot a team-high 53.8% from the field and ranked third in blocks (2.7) in the Big East Conference. The 6-11, 279-pound center recorded a season-high 24 points (11-12 FG), eight rebounds and five blocks vs. Holy Cross (12/18).

Drummond also earned two Big East Big East Rookie of the Week honors last season by scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds vs. West Virginia (1/9) and 18 points (9-12 FG) with seven rebounds at Georgetown (2/1).

A native of Mount Vernon, N.Y., he was rated the No. 1 high school prospect by Scout.com, No. 2 in the ESPNU Top-100 and led St. Thomas More (Conn.) to the 2011 Prep National Championship.