Rodney Williams- Will He Go Pro?

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He is still very raw as a player and is in desperate need of a jumpshot, but the NBA scouts love Potential. At a mere 19 years of age and the thought of getting him on a NBA team and developing him could be a good thing. It seems as if in recent years NBA teams have done better when it comes to developing young talent, I attribute part of this to the NBDL system allowing players to get meaningful minutes.

Around this time we see many basketball players hit the crossroads following their Sophmore seasons. This is the last year where you can be drafted on Potential alone rather than production, the scouts have 2 years worth of game tape of a player but not enough to write off a player ever getting better. If Rodney returns for his Junior season there will be the expectation of him being much better than he is right now, hopefully being our leading scorer, rebounder,& steals leader while making 1st team All-Big 10. His draft stock will be much higher and I could definetly see him going in the Top 10 in 2012 with such improvements.

On the otherside if Rodney returns for his Junior season or maybe even his Senior season and continues to be a dunk specialist(as another poster coined), his stock will suffer big time. He'll still have the size, athleticism, & agility but Potential goes out of the window after having a stagnant 4 year college career.

What do you guys think?
 

Go pro in what? He wasn't even a major contributor on a pathetic Gopher team.
 

rodney williams

Are you kidding me?!!! Do you watch college basketball around the country? Rodney Williams, if he works EXTREMELY hard at his game and with a little luck and 2 more years of college ball, MIGHT be good enough to play European ball. Where do you get this stuff??
 

I sense various differing opinions about Rodney from various Threads and comments by GopherHolers. My opinion? I don't know.
 

Gopher Fan said:
He is still very raw as a player and is in desperate need of a jumpshot, but the NBA scouts love Potential. At a mere 19 years of age and the thought of getting him on a NBA team and developing him could be a good thing. It seems as if in recent years NBA teams have done better when it comes to developing young talent, I attribute part of this to the NBDL system allowing players to get meaningful minutes.

Around this time we see many basketball players hit the crossroads following their Sophmore seasons. This is the last year where you can be drafted on Potential alone rather than production, the scouts have 2 years worth of game tape of a player but not enough to write off a player ever getting better. If Rodney returns for his Junior season there will be the expectation of him being much better than he is right now, hopefully being our leading scorer, rebounder,& steals leader while making 1st team All-Big 10. His draft stock will be much higher and I could definetly see him going in the Top 10 in 2012 with such improvements.

On the otherside if Rodney returns for his Junior season or maybe even his Senior season and continues to be a dunk specialist(as another poster coined), his stock will suffer big time. He'll still have the size, athleticism, & agility but Potential goes out of the window after having a stagnant 4 year college career.
What do you guys think?
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The bolded part is a very real possibility. This is why it wouldn't be a surprising even if Rodney left and actually did get drafted.
 


I think Rodney would actually get drafted IMO, but not 1st round, no way. Is it worth it to him to take a chance on 2nd round unguaranteed opportunity with his game as unpolished as it is? I'm thinking no, but hey, I'm not the one in position to even consider that decision.
 

He's a product of the AAU hype machine. His flaws have been exposed. He can dunk and they end up on ESPN, but I doubt these are scouts getting paid to draft players feeding this myth.

My bets are on 8 months of strength and conditioning and another year of maturity and confidence, making Austin Hollins the best 3 on the roster.
 

I doubt it. Remember this is a kid who played post in HS. He's having to completely reinvent his game. My prediction is that Rodney will be a big time player next year or his senior year. He'll go in the lottery if he gets a jump shot down and improves his ball handling. Both of those improved from last year to this year.
 

He should have gone pro last year. The younger you are, the more you get judged on athleticism and potential rather than production.
 



He will go pro and they will have a special lottery for him. Being a mostly ineffective player on one of the worst big ten teams tends to open up lots of pro opportunities.
 

GopherFish said:
He should have gone pro last year. The younger you are, the more you get judged on athleticism and potential rather than production.
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Agree 100%. It's the sad state of the NBA these days, but if I am a freshman with hype I would hire a good agent and go pro. I would be very strategic of my pre-draft workouts and only plan workouts with players that cater to my strengths. I feel very strongly that Rodney could have gone in the first round last year.
 

Marcus just tweeted that Rodney said he is for sure coming back, he's looking to take the next step and be "the guy" next year.
 




Do you think there are any other 6 conference win teams having discussions about 3 of their players going pro?
 

Hopefully Rodney works hard in the offseason like he said he will. He seemed to be making strides towards the end of the year and I think with improvement in his confidence and agressiveness combined with even slight improvement in his ball handling and shooting could result in a good year for him. I bet he averages 10 a game next year.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Marcus just tweeted that Rodney said he is for sure coming back, he's looking to take the next step and be "the guy" next year.
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I love the mentality. Hope the work he puts in is productive. You can work hard but not work smart. Here's to hoping he works endlessly on his ball handling, so he feels comfortable taking guys off the dribble.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Marcus just tweeted that Rodney said he is for sure coming back, he's looking to take the next step and be "the guy" next year.
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Love it. I, for one, am confident that Rodney will be a special player by the time he's done here. His jumper and ball-handling ability were improved this year (except for the one awful stretch), and a little bit of confidence in his game will go a long way. Good to hear from Rodney.
 

I like to compare Rodney to Morris Peterson as far as development is concerned. Morris Peterson moved pretty well without the ball and became a good defender in his sophomore year. Taking into consideration a redshirt year for Peterson, Rodney as a sophomore is not far behind Peterson in other areas. Peterson became a legit shooter in his junior year, which really opened up his offensive game although he still had trouble with ball handling -- in fact, he never developed good enough handle to create his own shot in college. In that sense, Rodney should concentrate on moving without the ball plus shooting first and foremost. With the two down, he will be very solid. Is that a reasonable goal? Yeah, I believe so.
 

NO! He is far better off remaining in school, working on his game and playing regularly then his is going pro, seriously dropping in the draft and spending the next couple of years warming the bench.
 

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/ci_17587392


If the Gophers make the NIT, they probably won't go far without more consistent performances from Mbakwe and Sampson. But sophomore Rodney Williams, who had just five points, said he also needs to make more of an impact, especially going into next season.

That's because he's intent on coming back.

"That's not for me; not for this year at least," Williams said about declaring early for the draft. "I'm not going to act like I'm going to leave. I've got a lot to work on."
 

GopherKrazed said:
http://www.twincities.com/gophers/ci_17587392


If the Gophers make the NIT, they probably won't go far without more consistent performances from Mbakwe and Sampson. But sophomore Rodney Williams, who had just five points, said he also needs to make more of an impact, especially going into next season.

That's because he's intent on coming back.

"That's not for me; not for this year at least," Williams said about declaring early for the draft. "I'm not going to act like I'm going to leave. I've got a lot to work on."
Click to expand...

Glad Rodney has realized this. I really think he did improve from freshman year, but obviously he is going to have to get a jumpshot, be able to handle the rock and in general boost his basketball IQ. Although there were plenty of times I wanted to write him off this season, I think he still has the chance to be a very good player by the time he leaves.
 

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