Have you heard of Derrick Williams? Maybe you have. Better yet, have you seen him play ball?
Maybe not, because it’s likely the forward from Arizona plays past your bedtime — I’m talking to you on the East Coast. To be fair, that’s if he’s on TV at all, because to watch the Wildcat forward even in the state of Arizona is chancy given the limited TV contracts. Okay, that’s an issue for another day, so I digress.
Williams’ Twitter identity is @Bigdthatsme23, but it could lose the self identification. @Bigd23 should do, because if everything were right in the world, fans would know “that’s him.”
The sophomore, though raw in some ways, is one of the best players in the nation; it’s just a matter of how many people know it. Heck, he might not even realize it himself.
“Just going back to high school or even last year, I just told myself, ‘Play like you’re always underrated,'” says Williams. “That’s what I always do, just always have something to prove to people. Just always telling myself there’s always somebody better than me on the court, I think that helps me.”
In a mold similar to that of Kevin Durant, Williams was raised into a strong-willed basketball player by a mother instilling motivation through a love for the game, not the prospects of the NBA.
“As good as he is, he’s one of the least cocky persons that you can meet,” says teammate Kyle Fogg.
Lightly recruited out of La Mirada, Calif., Williams has been the best player on a young Arizona team since his third game as a Wildcat. Now a sophomore, maybe Williams is not as well-known because he doesn’t demand the ball in his hands to be dominant. Still, he averages 20 points and eight rebounds a night without jacking up too many shots. Call him Mr. Efficient.
He gets to the foul stripe constantly with his quick, clever face-up moves and scores with a steady three-point jumper. By steady, I mean Williams shoots threes at a 71-percent clip on the year.
With a heavily-wrapped pinky finger that got jammed backward two days earlier, Williams scored 20 points in 18 minutes in a win against USC on Saturday. He played 18 minutes because of foul trouble and shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including three treys. He also went 5-for-8 from the foul line.
Did anyone east of the Mississippi see it? These are the life injustices I complain about.
Oh, and Williams dunks. And dunks. And dunks.
Sometimes Arizona games finish so late it won’t make a blip on the SportsCenter Top 10 radar, and that’s a shame. Williams smiles a lot, doesn’t say anything controversial and doesn’t appear to believe he’s earned any right to be called “one of the best players in the country.” He’s getting better at defense and has accepted an “everything’s on me” type of leadership.
Now, his Wildcats are 18-4, tied for first in the Pac-10 and could be headed for the NCAA Tournament.
After that the NBA might soon welcome a new D-Will, who at 6-8 and 240 pounds would’ve been called a undraftable tweener just a year ago. DraftExpress.com recently bumped him from a fringe Lottery pick to No. 5 on their draft board. NBADraft.net has him going No. 2.
For the record, as a hoops beat writer for the school paper at Arizona, maybe I’ve been sucked into the hype machine. But it’s hard not to respect a basketball player, who like Durant, loves the time on the court more than the accolades off of it.
“I don’t really care what all the people say,” says Williams about his Draft status. “All I’ve got to do is keep performing, and all the other stuff will come later.”
Because if fans haven’t taken notice, at the very least, the basketball scouts have.
What do you think? Is Williams a Lottery pick?
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