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| UofA - Marcus Williams Selected in NBA Draft |
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| Written by University of Arizona | |
| Friday, 29 June 2007 | |
 Tucson, Arizona – University of Arizona men’s basketball player Marcus Williams was selected in the 2007 NBA Draft, held Thursday at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.Williams, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound sophomore forward from Seattle, Wash., was the third pick of the second round (33rd overall) by the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 16.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 30 games played. He shot 49.4 percent from the field (196-of-397) and averaged of 1.1 steals per game. Williams scored in double figures 26 times in 2006-07, including a team-leading 11 games with 20 or more points. Williams was an all-Pac-10 Conference selection as well as an all-district pick by both the NABC and United States Basketball Writers Association.
In two seasons at Arizona, Williams averaged 14.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 63 career games (54 starts). He’s a 47.5 percent shooter for his career, including 35.6 percent from three-point range. Williams is the seventh Arizona underclassman to enter the draft early and be selected since 1991, joining Brian Williams (1991), Mike Bibby (1998), Gilbert Arenas (2001), Richard Jefferson (2001), Michael Wright (2001) and Andre Iguodala (2004).
“I think it’s the perfect team for him because the Spurs have some wing players who are older and it will give Marcus time to develop,” said UA head coach San Antonio.”Lute Olson. “It’s also good because in my opinion Chip Engelland is the best shooting coach in the country and he’s a member of San Antonio’s coaching staff. Before it started, it was my hope that Marcus would be picked by
Arizona leads the nation in overall draft picks with 28 since 1989, the year the NBA Draft was shortened to two rounds. Williams is the 59th Arizona product to be selected in the NBA Draft since 1948.
Most NBA Draft Choices since 1989
1. ARIZONA 28
Duke 28
3. UCLA 23
4 North Carolina 21
Connecticut 21
In his 34-year collegiate coaching career, Lute Olson has now produced 53 NBA Draft picks. Since Pete Williams and Eddie Smith, members of his first UA senior class, were selected in 1985, Arizona players selected in the NBA Draft. Of those players, 27 saw regular-season action and 10 played at least seven seasons. Impressively, the average length of an NBA career for a Lute Olson-coached Arizona alumnus is 5.96 seasons. Additionally, of Arizona’s 10 active NBA veterans, there are seven players who have played in the NBA in every season possible since leaving Arizona over the last six years.Lute Olson has had a total of 32
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