June 24, 2010

For the third year in a row, four Conference USA men's basketball players were selected in the NBA Draft. C-USA Newcomer of the Year Elliot Williams of Memphis was the No. 22 overall pick, going to the Portland Trail Blazers. Three others were selected in the second round: Marshall's Hassan Whiteside (No. 33), Jerome Jordan of Tulsa (No. 44) and UTEP's Derrick Caracter (No. 58).

Conference USA's NBA Draft History in PDF Format

Williams became the Tigers' latest NBA first-round selection, marking the first time in Memphis hoops history that it has produced a first-round pick three-straight years. Derrick Rose (2008) and Tyreke Evans (2009) were the Tigers' NBA first-round draft picks the previous two years. Williams is also the sixth Memphis first-round NBA Draft selection the last 10 years. In addition to Williams, Rose and Evans, the Tigers' other first-round picks the last decade were Dajuan Wagner (2002), Rodney Carney (2006) and Shawne Williams (2006). In the program's history, Williams is the 13th Tiger to go in the draft's first round.

Williams played his freshman season at Duke in 2008-09, before transferring to Memphis for his sophomore campaign in 2009-10. In the summer of 2009, the Memphis native received an NCAA waiver to play immediately for the Tigers, and therefore, did not have to sit out a transfer year.

The 2009-10 Conference USA Newcomer of the Year, Williams led the Tigers with a 17.9 scoring average, and also averaged 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He was second on the team with 128 assists and third on the squad with 45 steals. The 6-foot-5 guard shot 45.9 percent from the floor, 36.6 percent from the arc and 75.8 percent from the charity stripe in 2009-10. Williams finished the year ranked among C-USA leaders in scoring (2nd), field goal percentage (11th), assists (9th), free throw percentage (12th), three-point field goal percentage (10th), three-pointers made per game (10th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (9th).

Williams, who earned four C-USA Rookie of the Week awards and one C-USA Player of the Week honor during the season, scored in double figures in 32 of the Tigers' 34 games. He had 16 games in which he scored 20 or more points, the fourth-most 20-point games in a season since 1991-92. Williams' 610 points this past season are the second-most by a sophomore in Tiger history (Elliot Perry scored 620 points as a sophomore in 1988-89).

Williams scored a career-high 33 points in his Conference USA debut against Southern Miss on Jan. 9. He hit eight treys in the win over the Golden Eagles. The eight three-pointers made were the second-most in a single game in school history, and also set the single-game record for most treys made versus a conference opponent.

He was also named All-Conference USA by The Sporting News and CollegeInsider.com. Williams was a United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District 4 pick and a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) For his two-year collegiate career (Duke/Memphis), Williams scored 754 points (11.1 ppg) and grabbed 212 rebounds (3.1 rpg). He dished out 151 assists (2.2 apg) and 66 steals. He shot 46 percent from the floor, 34.5 percent from three-point arc and 72.2 percent from the free throw line.

Marshall's Hassan Whiteside was selected in the second round by the Sacramento Kings. Whiteside was the 33rd player taken overall and became the first MU cager to be taken in the NBA draft since 2002 when Tamar Slay was the selected by the New Jersey Nets in the second round (54th overall).

Whiteside earned 14 postseason awards upon the conclusion of his lone season with Marshall. Included in his honors were AP Honorable Mention All-American, Conference USA Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year. The 2010 C-USA Freshman of the Year will play alongside the Kings' Tyreke Evans - the 2009 C-USA Freshman of the Year while at Memphis and the 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year.

The Gastonia, N.C. native became the all-time leading shot blocker in Marshall history as he recorded 182 blocks in 34 games. His blocks' total is the fifth-most in a season by a NCAA Division I player.

Whiteside is the 21st MU player to go in a professional draft and is the fourth Marshall player to go in the second round. In addition to Slay, Mike D'Antoni (current New York Knicks head coach) was chosen in the second round by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the 1973 NBA Draft while Hal Greer (who was later named as one the 50 greatest players in NBA history) went in the second round to Syracuse in the 1958 draft.

Tulsa's Jordan was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round with the 44th overall pick. Jordan is the first Tulsa player chosen in the NBA draft since Michael Ruffin was the 32nd pick overall (second round) by the Chicago Bulls in 1999. Historically, Jordan is the second Tulsa player drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks as Paul Pressey was the Bucks' first-round pick of the 1982 NBA Draft.

The seven-foot center was a three-year starter and three-time Conference USA all-defensive team selection for the Golden Hurricane. He earned all-conference honors in his final two years, first-team accolades as a junior and second-team merits his senior season. Jordan averaged team-highs of 15.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 29.8 minutes of playing time in the 2009-10 campaign.

As a senior, Jordan had 13 double-doubles, including nine in the final 14 games of the season. The C-USA career shot block record holder registered 20 games with at least two blocks, 14 games with three or more and five games with five blocks or more as a senior and earned NABC first-team all-Conference USA honors.

Jordan became the only player in C-USA history to grab at least 800 rebounds and block 300 shots, while also setting the school record for blocked shots with 333 blocks. Jordan completed his career with 1,508 career points and 983 career rebounds, and ranked among the top-10 in school history in six categories for his career -- blocks (333-1st), rebounds (983-2nd), free throw attempts (595-4th), free throws made (388-4th), games played (133-6th) and scoring (1,508-8th). Jordan had career averages of 11.3 points (1,508), 7.4 rebounds (983) and 2.5 blocks (333). He totaled 31 career double-doubles and had 76 career double-digit scoring games and 40 double-figure rebounding games.

A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Jordan blocked two or more shots in 83 career games, three or more shots in 65 career games and five or more shots in 21 games. He also had 18 career 20+ point scoring games. Jordan became the only player in school history to have three 300+ rebounding seasons and scored over 400 points for three consecutive seasons.

UTEP forward Derrick Caracter became the first UTEP player to be chosen in the NBA Draft in 15 years on Thursday. Caracter was selected by the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers with the 58th overall pick in the second round.

The 6-9, 275-pound Caracter was a second team All-Conference USA player last season and a first team All-District pick by the NABC. He averaged 14.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks, ranking 16th nationally in field goal percentage (.567). The Fanwood, N.J., native led the Miners in scoring eight times and in rebounding on 19 occasions. He was second on the squad in double figure scoring games (22), and scored 20+ points on five occasions. Caracter recorded seven double-doubles, with season-highs of 22 points versus Houston and 15 rebounds versus Mississippi and Norfolk State. Caracter made 10-of-13 shots in tallying 20 points and nine rebounds in UTEP's first round NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national runner-up Butler.

One of the most decorated players in the country coming out of Notre Dame Prep, Caracter played his first two seasons at Louisville and averaged better than eight points per game each year.

Caracter becomes the first Miner selected in the NBA Draft since George Banks was chosen by Miami in the second round with the 46th overall pick in 1995. Caracter is the 26th UTEP player to have his name called in the NBA Draft.

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