There were so many high hopes for Zion Williamson, going back as far as his high school days in South Carolina. Here, he calls a flip of pin-down action and improvises, sending the 4 to the rim + easily lobbing it in from 25 feet out with his off hand. If so what would they need to do to get there and do you think they can? "[People say], 'Well, I didn't know he could do that,'" he says. For services to education. Zion's senior team at his high school has won three state championships. In the summer leading up to his first season, Williamson practiced in the school gym and developed the ability to dunk. It helped me become a more social person.". The morning before Duke takes on North Dakota State in the opening round of the tournament, Spartanburg Day holds a pep rally to celebrate its famous alumnus. [76] One week later, he scored 26 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in an 8163 victory over Notre Dame. John's. Zion was also considering Clemson, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It's also where the Carolina Panthers train; a couple of summers ago, several NFL players paused their workouts to gawk at Williamson as he practiced in the gym. Born on 6-7-2000, Zion Williamson was born in Salisbury, North Carolina. He was a once-in-a-lifetime combination of an offensive lineman's size and. [5] In the summer leading up to his first season, Williamson practiced in the school gym and developed the ability to dunk. [83][84] He did not return to the game, which Duke lost, 8872. 1 fan Drake sports his high school jersey", "Zion Williamson 48 Points & Dunks On Everyone But The Coach", "Zion Williamson sets state record in rout", "201617 MaxPreps Boys Basketball Junior All-American Team", "201617 MaxPreps High School Boys Basketball All-American Team", "ALL-USA Boys Basketball First Team: Zion Williamson, Spartanburg Day (S.C.)", "No. He opens a folder sitting on his lap and pulls out a sheet of paper. Sartor agrees. While Williamson and his family emphatically avoided the spotlight during his time at Duke, turning down most interview requests -- including one for this story -- there are lessons to be gleaned from examining his years at Spartanburg Day, a K-12 school with just 450 students (Williamson's graduating class had 45 kids). All Rights Reserved. Former NBA player Stephen Jackson recently weighed in on New Orleans Pelicans' star Zion Williamson absence during the playoffs, suggesting that the young player should make more of an effort to get back on the court. [74] He eclipsed the Duke freshman record for single-game points previously held by Marvin Bagley III and JJ Redick. Five comps for Zion So he asks an event organizer where he can get some concession-stand food. Once the drumming subsides, a kid wearing a Christian Laettner jersey passes the microphone to the head of the school, Rachel Deems. NOW THAT HE'S officially headed to the NBA, Zion Williamson will enter the draft as the most talked about prospect in recent history, but we really don't know very much about him. [138] On December 9, Zion put up a then season-high 35 points, along with seven rebounds, four steals, and one block in a 126117 win against the Phoenix Suns. [44][45] The injury also forced him to miss the Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit in the following month. [52] By the end of his sophomore season, he received offers from 16 NCAA Division I programs, including Clemson, Florida, and South Carolina, but was not planning on making a decision until his senior year. His name isn't even available in the recruiting packet handed out to coaches at the event. "Early on, I said, 'Do you know what you want to do, Zion?' [43], On March 28, Williamson played in the 2018 McDonald's All-American Game, where he scored 8 points in 17 minutes before leaving with a thumb injury. The team is making 67.6 percent of its freebies, which ranks 256th in the sport and is flirting with the worst foul-shot percentage for Duke since 1994-95 -- the last time the Blue Devils didn't make the NCAA Tournament. Regardless, most schools only came calling after Murray State found him. [166] She named Williamson after the biblical location Mount Zion near Jerusalem, taking her grandmother's advice to name him "something extra special. "I guess the rest of the athleticism had to kick in, but he was catching alley-oops from Ja then," Tee Morant said. (Tee Morant said Clemson was interested, too, but didn't have an available scholarship on the table.) Kane connected, and within essentially a week's time, McMahon offered Morant a scholarship in the parking lot after a tournament in Greensboro. "[163] Williamson has the ability to defend multiple positions well due to his speed and length, although his defensive effort has been questioned. He became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to post 16 20-point games within their first 20 contests while also logging the highest scoring average through his first 24 career NBA games since Jordan in 1983. Zion hit his on the backboard during a Duke game in 2018. . There's a goodness about him that I think people want to celebrate.". At this point, it's a wonder to many how a talent like Morant wound up in Murray, Ky. [81] The performance helped him claim his second ACC Player of the Week and fifth ACC Freshman of the Week accolades. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/Tfksxjc0fY. New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (left), dressed in street clothes while he nurses an injury, sits on the bench next to guard CJ McCollum (right) in the first half of an NBA basketball . "Sometimes you'd have to tell him: 'You just need to take over the game.'". [22] On December 30, Williamson recorded 31 points and 14 rebounds to win most valuable player (MVP) at the Farm Bureau Insurance Classic. Without looking, what's your guess on how many Division I men's basketball players have scored 3,000 career points? Name: Zion Williamson Who is: athlete, basketball player, basketball player Birth date: 6 july 2000 (22 y.o.) That said, being such a star makes one vulnerable to a broken relationship. ", "Zion Williamson: Basketball's next dunking prodigy", "Kevin Durant on Zion Williamson: 'He's a once-in-a-generation type athlete', "Zion Williamson to Duke: Three takeaways as hyper-athletic forward joins Blue Devils mens basketball", "Adidas Gauntlet: Feeding frenzy for five-star Langford", "The Insane Growth Of The Man-Child That Is Zion Williamson", "Rival Views: The best Zion Williamson comparison", "Is SC dunking phenom Zion Williamson basketball's next LeBron James? A few minutes later, he answers it again. Williamson also left high school as a McDonald's All-American, runner-up for Mr. Basketball USA, and USA Today All-USA first team honoree. [168], On March 13, 2020, Williamson pledged to pay for the salaries of all the employees of the Smoothie King Center for 30 days during the suspension of the 201920 NBA season, which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [5][7][162] Recruiting service 247Sports has praised his ball handling and passing skills for his size, commenting that they are "overshadowed by [his] athletic plays. Kane showed up on a Wednesday in Spartanburg for a ragtag AAU combine of sorts. "But there are also some things that are just innate. "I began making suggestions. Reaching 3,000 is such a rarity, yet here we have two guys ready to do it in the same season and within less than two weeks of each other. [3] When he was five years old, he set sights on becoming a college basketball star. In his freshman and only season with Duke, Williamson was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Athlete of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year. [97] He shot 13-of-13 from the field, marking the best shooting performance in school and tournament history, while tying the best in ACC history. ", Here's how Zion would look on some lottery teams (0:54), Sources: Ex-ND coach Brey to join Hawks staff, Miami PG Wong, ACC's POY, entering NBA draft, Highly touted guard Westry transfers to Syracuse, Guard Ashworth commits to transfer to Creighton, Louisville transfer Ellis joining Arkansas hoops, Pate signs with NBA's G League Ignite program, UConn guard Alleyne transfers to St. John's, Montana St. hires Point Loma's Logie as coach, UConn is No. [17] He made his season debut on November 15, 2016, recording 42 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Cardinal Newman High School. [101], For the 2019 NCAA tournament, official broadcast partner CBS specifically devoted a cameracalled the "Zion Cam"to record Williamson throughout the tournament. [30] In June, he appeared on the cover of basketball magazine Slam. Earlier that day, dozens of kids were measured and went through drills. It's been almost as long since Duke was this unreliable from 3-point range as well. [98] Williamson also became the first Duke player to record at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals in a game since Christian Laettner in 1992. "I said, 'Zion you're going to be as good a writer as you are a basketball player if you follow through on this.'". By the middle of Williamson's junior year, after he scored 53 in the Chick-fil-A Classic in Columbia against top prospect Jalek Felton, the 6-foot-7, 230-pound teenager was a media sensation. He was ranked as the number two basketball player in the high school class of 2018 by Scout.com. "The first dozen games I went to, there were, like, 50 people in the crowd," he says. [4] In 2013, he guided Johnakin to an 81 record and a conference title. Today, he continues, Williamson is not only the most unique athlete he's ever coached, but also possesses a rare emotional intellect. Donnie Bui, a 27-year-old videographer who cut highlight reels for the website BallIsLife.com, moved to Charlotte to cover Williamson. He had hops, but he didn't have the hops that he possesses now.". Nor is he without athletic gifts. ", The next day, after Duke advances to the second round, Williamson sits in the locker room for his obligatory media availability, his boulder-sized chest caving in a little as a battalion of reporters descends. [136], On October 19, Williamson made his regular season return, putting up 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and four steals in a 130108 win over the Brooklyn Nets. [61], Williamson played in a preseason game for Duke on August 15, 2018, in an 8667 win over Canadian university Ryerson, recording a double-double of 29 points and 13 rebounds and shooting 3-of-4 from three-point range. Wasn't a play call, was just him seeing the game and making that read.". [14], As a junior, Williamson averaged 36.8 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game. Do they exercise their postseason demons of last year in the tourney? "It helped me bond with kids I probably wouldn't have bonded with if I didn't go to that school. In a freaky coincidence, South Dakota State's Mike Daum and Campbell's Chris Clemons started the season at 2,232 apiece. So Kane is in the building, watching Brown, but he's really hungry. Recently, she says, Williamson was excited to tell her about a photo essay he worked on in college documenting his own grueling schedule. 2 Duke to 91-61 rout of St. John's", "Williamson Named National Player, ACC Freshman of the Week", "Barrett has triple-double, No. He has been described as not fitting a specific basketball position. [26] He repeated as SCISA Region I-2A Player of the Year. Just as troubling is Duke's free throw percentage. . We know he listens to Jay-Z, a preference that his young teammates have described, disturbingly to anyone born before 1990, as "old school." [103] On March 24, Williamson erupted for 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists in a 7776 second round victory over UCF. After one go-around, Williamson went on to the Adidas circuit while Morant stayed behind with the humble Hornets. Murray State sophomore point guard Ja Morant's rise in the past month is unlike anything mid-major college basketball has seen in a long time. [49][50], Wofford offered Williamson his first college basketball scholarship when he was a freshman in high school. [10] In his sophomore season, Williamson averaged 28.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.9 blocks, and 2.7 steals per game and was named SCISA Region I-2A Player of the Year. Zion Williamson 102Followers School Spartanburg Day (Spartanburg, SC) Class Year Senior 2018 Teams V. Basketball #12 PF, SF, C Timeline Stats Awards Photos News Videos / Zion Williamson Zion Williamson Latest Updates 2023 West NBA All-Star Starters: High School Player Ratings 19598 views | More Videos: Zion Williamson Stephen Curry 84 ] he did n't have the hops that he possesses now. `` South Dakota State 's Mike and! 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