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Two-and-Through: Comparing Derrick Williams to Arizona’s other NBA draft early entrants

by on Apr. 25, 2011, under Sports
Derrick Williams dunk

Derrick Williams jammed a lot into two years.
Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Derrick Williams had his final press conference as a college basketball player on Wednesday. He talked about his draft projections, the potential lockout and finishing school.

There was one thing he didn’t say that he should have:

That’s how a short-timer does it.

How does Williams’ two-year career rank among the Arizona Wildcats’ other NBA draft early entrants?

This isn’t an attempt to discuss the sports morality of going pro early. I don’t know who had what mouths to feed, or who couldn’t keep his grades up, or who wasn’t enjoying his coaches, teammates or being broke.

It also isn’t about individual awards, stats or records. My fan currency is championships. What did you help your team win?

I didn’t include the guys who left after their junior season because in this day and age a three-year player may as well be a fifth-year senior.

In reverse order of achievement, here’s how the UA’s youngest NBA draftees stack up:

#6 – Jerryd Bayless, 2008 freshman
Freshman year: 7th place in the Pac-10, one win in the conference tournament (in the 7-10 play-in game) and a loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Arizona’s only one-and-done to date was a part of the Cats’ lowest Pac-10 finish in 25 years, first losing conference record in 24 years, and lowest win total in 21 years. Not the way to build a legacy.

For the record, I don’t have a problem with one-and-done as a concept. If the rules say you can get paid after one year and you’re good enough to get paid, so be it. Just do something in the one before you’re done. Carmelo Anthony going pro? Let me give you a ride to the airport. Kyrie Irving? Maybe you should stick around and for another 11 games.

#5 – Marcus Williams, 2007 sophomore
Freshman year: 4th in the Pac-10 and one win each in the Pac and NCAA tournaments.
Sophomore year: 3rd in the Pac-10 and a complete oh-fer in the postseason.

In addition to the team’s poor showing, this one was strange in that no one was heartbroken when Williams left because everyone wanted Chase Budinger to take over as the starting small forward. It’s hard to be remembered when they’re trying to forget you before you’ve left.

#4 – Andre Iguodala, 2004 sophomore
Freshman year: Pac-10 champs (17-1 record), first-round loss in the Pac-10 tournament but made the Elite Eight.
Sophomore year: 3rd in the Pac-10, one win at Staples Center and a first-round loss in the NCAAs.

Iguodala’s win resume is built on the 2003 season but he wasn’t a starter on that team. Seniors Jason Gardner, Luke Walton and Rick Anderson led the way with help from stars-in-training Salim Stoudamire and Channing Frye.

2004 was Iguodala’s year to shine but the triple-doubles don’t make up for spending his final semester sending out “Will you draft me? Check Yes or No” cards.

#3 – Derrick Williams, 2011 sophomore
Freshman year: 4th in the Pac-10, first-round loss in the Pac-10 tournament, no national tourney of any kind.
Sophomore year: Pac-10 champs, two Pac-10 tournament wins and the Elite Eight.

Major bonus points for being The Man on his final team. Thirty wins and a highlight reel that stretches to Sierra Vista are a great way to build memories.

#2 – Gilbert Arenas, 2001 sophomore
Freshman year: Pac-10 champs, one win in the NCAA tournament.
Sophomore year: 2nd in the Pac-10 and the NCAA championship game.

Four Wildcats were drafted after the 2001 Final Four run but Arenas was the only underclassman. UA fans have every right to believe if he was 100% healthy he would have been the difference in the title game against Duke.

#1 – Mike Bibby, 1998 sophomore
Freshman year: National Champions.
Sophomore year: Pac-10 champs (17-1 record) and the Elite Eight.

The ’98 season ended in disappointment but the Cats could’ve gone 0-31 that year and Bibby would still be at the top of this list. When you play a key part on the team that achieves your school’s most prized athletic accomplishment, you live forever.

It’s interesting that Derrick Williams and Mike Bibby have similar individual resumes. Both were the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year followed by a sophomore campaign that included winning the Pac-10, going to the Elite Eight, taking home the Pac-10 Player of the Year award and being named a consensus All-American.

The gargantuan difference is in Williams’ freshman year the Cats missed the tournament for the first time in 26 years while in Bibby’s first season he cut down a bunch of nets.

No Wildcat fan is going to hold that against Derrick Williams though. He will be remembered as the player who helped make Arizona Basketball matter again…

Even after Sean Miller finds his Mike Bibby.

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Scott Terrell says thanks to the winners. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 25th, 2011 at 2:08 AM and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: , , , , , , , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • http://none Jim Bodkins

    A comment first.
     
    Either its semi-pro and people can play where they choose … or its student athletics.
     
    If its semi-pro, the NCAA must eliminate the requirements on transfers.  No sitting out a season and transfer as often as you like. Want an agent in college? … get one. In the pros and didnt exhaust eligibility and want to finish your degree? … go back to college. And allow professional – ala the olympics – athletes in college. If it applies to a business student it should apply to a basketball student.
     
    How about student athletes? They should be blocked from professional play for the term of eligibility.
     
    As to Williams – I have a better question … how many of the early exits attended multiple schools, multiple aau teams, multiple colleges prior to leaving college early. That is, how stable was the player. Williams committed to multiple colleges. Did he attend  multiple highschools, aau teams etc? How does this apply to the othes.
     
    Eliot for example seemed to be stable from highschool through college and didnt leave early. I believe Kerr was the same.
     
    Is there a connection? We may see a players future in his past.
     
    (unedited)

  • augie

    As for Williams commitment to USC and breaking it, how is that relevant? What was invested by USC? Their program was identified by the NCAAs as rotten, that was their fault, not his.
    The NBA and all other professional sports is all about generating revenue. Why would they ban good talent that will help them in their efforts?
    The real solution the NCAAs should consider is creating a 2/4 year student athlete scholarship the same way military ROTCs have. a 2 year scholarship is a binding legal commitment and if they break it, they are financially responsible for that scholarship. The flip side to that, if they are awarded a 2 year scholarship and fail to meet the program’s standard such as GPA, disciplinary, or (sarcastically) FT%/missed field goals), a renewal of their scholarship is denied.
    I’m just saying
     

  • http://none Jim Bodkins

    I’m not complaining about Williams. I’m commenting that players in high school commonly are gypsies. I dont know their histories – maybe the author does. It may be that players that travel a lot prior to college will continue that trend in college.
     
    Consider Turner as an example. Or S. Johnson.
     
    Williams was connected in some way to Memphis also. I dont know his high school history, so I dont know if this was happenstance in his case or part of a larger trend. (It doesnt make him a bad guy either way) His goal wasnt college. It was the NBA.
     
    I would like to know more about the histories of early exits to better understand what to expect from incoming recruits.
     
    Professional sports abide by agreements with the NCAA. At this point there arent any agreements – to my knowledge – between the NCAA and NBA. The NBA couldnt afford to develop players the way the NCAA does. That is why they would abide by an agreement with the NCAA.
     
    All business is about profit. That doesnt make it a good thing.
     
    The current system is ambivalent. It needs to make up its mind. Semi-pro … which it isnt now … or amateur … which it also isnt now. (All players are students at this point but very few are academics. All players can play but very few are professional caliber).
     
    The disruption in college of early exits and transfers is self evident. I’m sure it is an order of magnitude worse in high school. I”m not on a mission. But I would like to understand this a little better.
     

    • http://uasports.net Scott Terrell

      I completely agree that the current NCAA/NBA system isn’t working.  I like the baseball draft rules.  You can go pro right out of high school but you start in the minor leagues and ride buses while you work your way up.  Or, you can go play college baseball but you’re not eligible to be drafted again until after 3 years (I’d even settle for 2 years in basketball).
      Let the kids who want to earn a living earn a living but allow the college programs to build continuity with the kids who do show up on campus.

  • http://none Jim Bodkins

    Ooh, I just noticed that my posts are being moderated.
     
    Last post.

  • Carlos J. M.

    We’ve all heard of high school baseball players going pro only to a few years later come back to the amatuer ranks and play college football, for example.  This no doubt is different for basketball and football because they have built-in safeguards making it impossible for a kid to go pro right away.  My question then, I guess, is do you guys think this clause for HS baseball players is working for all concerned? 

    It certainly seems to be working for the player, pro baseball team and new college team for this one-time baseball player who’s had a change of heart and sport.  Why not let basketball and football high schoolers, and one-and-done scholar ballers of the college kind, try something similar?  I would give it the twist that if things don’t work out in the pros right out of HS, or in their first year in the league after their freshman year in college, these cagers and gridders be allowed to come back home (or go elsewhere), enroll in college and use that pro money to play ball at the school of their choice.  That way no one’s kidding no one.  And besides, ain’t that more like life in the big city, really?

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