And, for this season’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, add Jay Huff as a nominee!
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Fresh Ive been meaning tu ask you this since Sept. I dont want tu start a new thread. I actually dont know how.LOL. So hopefully you see it here. I am great friends with a guy that played with Willie Dersch in HS and know tons of guys who played against him in HS. I actually saw him play a few times and he was cooking. I was with some of my goons and Willie name came up. Before I share our convo. What do you think of his college career? Were you aware of the cloud nine rep he was getting in HS and what was Jeff Jones saying about him as a recruit? Do you think he lived up tu expectations? I will share after you answer. Thanks
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Tu start Willie has been one of my best friends since he graduated from UVa and actually his first job outta school was with me in NYC.
So I met JJ at Christ the King when Willie was in HS and at the gym was Will and Lamar Odom and maybe Eric Barkley. Willie was a great great talent and I think he was kinda surprised at all the attention he was getting although I never knew him personally during college.
In terms of career he really got caught in that strange time of UVa hoops. As a first year he played with some great players and wasnt expected to be the man yet but had a solid first two years though not spectacular. Once Gillen came in it became clear to Willie that he was not gonna be his guy so I think Will accepted that and kinda faded.
He didnt meet many peoples expectations but I believe he was happy with what he did and his overall experience etc. Taking my personal relationship out of if I would say Willie woulda had a better career for himself if he we to say UNC maybe. But am very grateful that he is a Hoo and it has served him well post basketball
Hope that answers what you were looking for man
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And as far as Coach Jones I think, but have never asked him, that he expected Will to be a solid player that would improve as his 4 years went along. Definitely as a starter but not a guy to carry the team the way maybe Donald Hand did
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Willie went tu Holy Cross and not Christ the King.
I know but the games were at CTK that day ha
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Thank you Fresh for answering a low life like myself. I would never believe a UVA baller like yourself took the time tu answer me. THATS WHATS UP!! My people always got on me because I thought Willie was going tu elevate our program. At the time, I was dealing with young man shit in the hood and didnt pay attention tu ball like ive done my entire life. So when I saw the kid who is always in NY papers and a Mc Donalds All American going tu UVA. I immediately jumped on the wagon. I was young and automatically thought since he was a Mc Donalds All American. He was a NBA player. I played against Travis Best and after he tore a hole in my ass and scored 47 points on me. I knew the difference between reg players and McDonald All Americans and Travis was one.
Than I saw him do well like I said and my friend played with him and he was older than Willie. He spoke highly of him. Than they called him the next Chris Mullin. Well he wasnt and I think the pressure ate him up. I wont go intu why I think he didnt fulfill the hype but I was very disappointed with his career. But I was looking at him as a great and I should have evaluated him from my own eyes. I was in the streets and looking at the news.
The guys who played against him didnt think he was a great. But they thought he could be a good player for UVA. My man Ebro said, Willie needed a homeboy with him at UVA tu keep the NY in him and remind him he is good. Again I won’t go intu why I think he didnt live up tu expectations but Willie career wasnt what I was hoping it tu be. But only a fraction can say they started in a great conference like the ACC and that alone is a milestone. I know I wasnt good enough tu start or play in the ACC. LOL. So props tu him. Thanks for taking the time from Church tu share. LOL
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I tried tu dunk on Eric Barkley and bust my ass. Not only did I miss. The rim rejected the ball and I went down backwards on my ass. REAL HARD. I MEAN REAL HARD. I was so embarrass, I jumped up and tried tu fight him. I claimed he fouled me but he didnt. I just didn’t get enough air and looked like a fool. THE GOOD OLE DAYS.
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hahaha. Yea Tu I think we see it the same here. Love talkin Uva hoops man so aint no thang to respond when I think I have some insight to shit. Willie would be the first to tell you he initially was disappointed in his playing career at Uva but older and wiser I think he gets at what a tough spot he found himself in with expectations etc.
Appreciate you and everyone elses responses too homeboy
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Also Trav Best was real real. We had much harder time with him than say Bobby or other great PGs in the ACC then. No shame of getting worked by Trav cause he got ALL of us
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I know this is a late reply, @Gna2r, but I still want to emphasize your points. There are not going to be lots of alpha players on NBA teams. And NBA team members appreciate the guys who do the non-alpha work you listed (defense, rebounding, high percentage shots, not turning the ball over, etc). I’d say this is why UVA guys such as John Crotty play 12 years in the league and wind up affiliated with the media side of an NBA team after their playing careers have ended.
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I caught the tail end of Willie’s career, when he was a 6th man helping a young squad in 2000 sweep UNC and begin a turnaround under Gillen. That said, he seemed to be a poor fit for Gillen’s system. Question for the board - could he have been a Joe Harris-like player under Bennett?
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Perhaps, I would say Joe had a higher ceiling so he was able to accomplish a lot more. I totally think CTB’s system would have been a much better fit for Willie than Gillen’s.
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Absolutely!
After college I played a lot of hoops in leagues with Will. He could shoot but was not a “shooter”. Great slasher and finisher. He definitely could have played in TBs system maybe more like Devon than Joe I think.
Also knew where and when to set me up for the deep one. hahahhaah
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Does anyone think that we will get involved with Elijah Hutchins-Everett?
I think Williford could have been a Nolte type but much tougher. A player that could defend the three and some fours. Hit open shots and be a glue guy. I cant think of any other player.
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I can see Devon but Devon was a point guard and can REALLY PASS and handle. I would say Devon if Devon didnt have a great senior yr shooting the ball. He isnt Marial either because Jason wasnt a scorer. So I will say Devon over Nolte and Marial.
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Sheesh, I can rarely determine on which thread to drop a note, so I’m using this one.
For those who are out of C’ville, here’s a link to a CD story about men’s hoops for this year. I gotta love the CD!