The 12th pick has been a cursed pick for years, the only lottery pick that hasn’t produced an All-Star in 30 years, with the most accomplished ones being Thaddeus Young (2007) and Steven Adams (2013). With the No. 12 pick this year, the Thunder drafted Jalen Williams, who was still relatively unknown a few months ago. Can he break his fate and become the first All-Star No. 12 since 1989.
Further reading:Draft pick myths: Analysis of 30 years of draft results — isn’t the second-best pick?
Williams is the first to break a record in the draft: the first Santa Clara University player to be drafted since Steve Nash in 1996.
Almost all of the rookies selected in front of Williams came from famous basketball schools, including Duke, Gonzaga, Auburn, Kentucky, etc. Even Purdue University, a weaker traditionally owned 5th pick Jaden Ivey, has produced 4 NBA rookies in the past 6 years. Including recently deceased 2017 first-round pick Caleb Swanigan…
Williams played basketball in Santa Clara, a longtime NCAA runner, for three years, and NBA scouts didn’t pay special attention to his performance until this year’s joint workout. In fact, Williams grew up underestimated and used to shut up those who questioned him with his performance.
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Unlike many NBA players, Williams has a good family background, at least he didn’t have to go hungry since he was a child. His parents are both ex-military soldiers, Ron Williams, a Master Sergeant who worked on military aircraft, and Nicole Williams, a medical paramedic. After his father retired, the Williams family settled near Phoenix, Arizona.
Influenced by her parents’ military background, Jalen was taught from an early age that she was responsible for her own life. At the age of six, Jalen made his first ambition and took responsibility for it: I wanted to become a professional basketball player.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”
By middle school, Jalen took the first step towards realizing her dream. He played in the AAU I-10 Celtics league. There was no age group for him in that league, so sponsor Paul Suber arranged for Williams to play with players who were a few years older. At first, the skinny Williams was completely outshone by players who were much taller than him, and Suber sometimes even thought he was watching volleyball:
“But Jalen played smart and loved basketball, so he quickly found a way to deal with it.”
He developed later than the average person, but in order to be able to play the basketball he loves, he will always find a way to make up for his weaknesses: in order not to be disturbed by the big man, he practiced a pull-up jumper; in order to integrate into the team of his older teammates, He honed his passing skills. By the time he grew to over 6 feet in his senior year, he had developed a well-rounded skill set.
“It wasn’t until that moment that we realized that this kid might really have a future,” said Padraig O’Brien, a trainer with Williams since high school.
In the summer of 2017, Hofstra University noticed Williams was doing well in a summer game, becoming the first NCAA Division I school to offer him a scholarship. The problem is, Hofstra University is in New York State, on the other side of the country.
A week later, Williams participated in an AAU game in California. This AAU was not sponsored by a sneaker company, and there were not many high-profile new stars participating.
As always, AAU coaches sent out invitations to a bunch of NCAA Division I school coaches. Jason Ludwig, an assistant professor at Santa Clara University, usually ignores these invitations, but an idea suddenly popped into his mind: Just go there and walk.
Ludwig walked to the American Sports Center. He didn’t know a single coach or player in this huge arena with 25 basketball courts. In the farthest “Pitch 52”, a player with strange body proportions attracted his attention:
“His hands and feet are very long. His feet are also disproportionate to his torso.”
Yes, even those close to Williams admit that body proportions are what makes Williams stand out. Williams was about 6-foot-1, with a 6-foot-8 wingspan, and weighed less than 180 pounds.
Suber laughs, “He looks weird. If you look at him from the side, you’ll think of the letter L (lengthy, long, lanky).”
“But also what surprised me the most was that they didn’t notice his talent, they just focused on his size. Everyone said: He looks weird. I thought: You should get your eyes checked, can’t you see? The result of the game and his performance?”
Ludwig was the only college coach who really noticed Williams, first because of his size and later because of Williams’ performance. He had to jot down Williams’ characteristics on his notes and put him on a preliminary 12-man recruiting list.