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Williams earned consensus second-team
all-America honors during the 2004-05 season. He started every game
and ranked third on the team in scoring, averaging 12.5 points. He
reached double figures in 25 games, with five games of 20 or more
points. Williams was at his
best during the NCAA tournament, averaging 14.7 points and 8.3
assists. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Chicago
Regional after scoring 22 points in Illinois' memorable comeback win
over Arizona in the regional final and 21 versus Wisconsin-Milwaukee
in the Sweet 16. Williams had 17 points versus North Carolina in the
national title game and had 16 assists combined versus UNC and
Louisville to earn NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team honors.
Arguably the nation's most unselfish
player, Williams led the Big Ten and ranked 11th in the nation in
assists, averaging 6.8 apg, and became the first player in Big Ten
history to lead the conference in assists in each of his first three
years. He shattered the UI school record for assists in a season
with 264 this year, which is also the third-highest total in Big Ten
history.
Williams ends his Illini career
ranked No. 2 on the school's all-time assists list with 594 assists
(seventh in Big Ten history). He ranks 35th on the Illini all-time
scoring list with 1,111 career points and ranks eighth on the UI
career 3-point field goals list with 163 treys.
Illinois compiled an overall record
of 88-16 (.846) during Williams' career and 39-9 (.813) in Big Ten
play. Illinois won two regular-season outright Big Ten titles, two
Big Ten Tournament titles and participated in the NCAA tournament
all three seasons, advancing to the second round, Sweet 16 and
national championship game, respectively.
Williams attended The Colony High
School in Texas.
[to top of second column in this article]
 |
 Statement from Deron Williams:
"I am officially announcing that I'm
declaring for the NBA draft. I signed with an agent this past
weekend, and my attention is now on pursuing my professional
basketball career and preparing for the draft on June 28.
It has been my lifelong dream to play
in the NBA. Having looked at my situation and through talks with
many people I'm close to, I felt that the timing was right and that
this was an opportunity I could not pass up.
There are a lot of people who have
impacted my life and career. I would like to thank:
-
My family, for all their support
through the years.
-
Coach Weber and our assistants, Coach
McClain, Coach Webster, Coach Price and Coach Nottingham. They put
the ball in my hands and let me run the team, and I appreciate
them having confidence in me and helping me improve my game the
last two years.
-
Coach Self and Coach Gillispie, for
introducing me to Fighting Illini basketball and recruiting me to
Illinois.
-
My teammates -- guys like Dee Brown,
Luther Head, James Augustine, Roger Powell, Jack Ingram, Brian
Cook, Jerrance Howard and Sean Harrington, and all the younger
guys. We had a lot of great times playing here together. We won a
lot of games, won some championships and had an amazing run this
year to end my career.
-
All the support staff, including Al
Martindale, Rod Cardinal, Dr. Kyrouac, Jimmy Price, Jason Holtman,
Kent Brown and Derrick Burson.
-
Lastly, I want to thank the fans and
the Orange Krush, who have been unbelievable in their support of
our team and myself. Everywhere we went this year, orange filled
the stands, and I believe that Illini fans are absolutely the best
in the nation.
Finally, I want to wish the best of
luck to my teammates who will return to Illinois. We are a family,
and I know they'll continue to be successful due to their hard work,
the great coaching and the wonderful fan support here."
[Derrick Burson, assistant sports
information director,
University of Illinois] |
