Jason Williams

July 2, 2002

courtesy of Blue Devil Weekly
By Russ Waterman

NEW YORK - "Jay and I will be all smiles and have a good time of it tomorrow night," Mike Dunleavy was saying on the eve of the 2002 NBA Draft. "It will be quite an honor to think that we have represented our school well and that here are two Duke guys that went in the top two, three, four or whatever it will be."

And so it was that Jason Williams and Dunleavy, the key linchpins for Duke's ACC championship squad last season, were all smiles on draft night. While Carlos Boozer became the third Blue Devil chosen in this year's draft and 35th overall in the second round to Cleveland, most eyes and ears were turned toward the more celebrated duo.

Williams, the consensus national player of the year and BDW's male Blue Devil of the Year for 2002, was drafted second by the Chicago Bulls. Dunleavy, an All-America and an Academic All-America, went to the Golden State Warriors with the next pick. The two now rank among the second highest draft picks ever as a college tandem. Only in 1969, when UCLA's Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) went first and Bruin teammate Lucius Allen went third, has a pair of players from the same college gone higher.

"I'm happy about it," said Williams right after he and Dunleavy were selected. "I know Coach K is happy about it. I think it says a lot about our program and a lot about our coaching. He's the best coach to ever coach the game and I love him."

Dunleavy put pollsters, prognosticators and pundits on edge by being non-committal until the last possible moment, ultimately declaring his intent to enter the NBA wars on the June 19 deadline for underclassmen remove their names from consideration.

"It's safe to say most kids in my situation would have just gone on to the NBA and been done with it," said Dunleavy, the son of Mike Dunleavy Sr., who played in the NBA from 1976-1990 and has also been a coach, general manager and broadcaster in the league.

"But there's so much that I appreciated and respected at Duke that I really wanted to consider staying. When I put my name in initially, I really expected to be back. Once we found out more and more, no matter how bad I wanted to go to Duke, I just couldn't turn it down.

"If anybody could have come back it was me," he continued. "If you put yourself in my situation, it was too much to pass up. It would have been tempting fate. I've had three incredible years at Duke. Coming back would almost have been selfish for me. I'm looking out at what's best for me five or 10 years down the road."

Of course, there were very few secrets about Williams' coming out and where he would go in the draft. He is, however, taking very little for granted. "Nothing's ever been guaranteed in my life," he said. "I had to work for everything in my life. I had to earn it. I don't expect to walk in to Chicago and automatically assume the position of being the man."

Asked by a reporter about the irony of joining a team that he rooted against while growing up in New Jersey, Williams said he was prepared for that twist of fate while playing golf at Duke with Michael Jordan a week before the draft, when Jordan said, "Come on over here, Chicago Bull." (Another irony is that Williams would certainly have been drafted by the Wizards and played with former Bull Jordan last season had he left Duke after his sophomore season.)

The day before the draft, Williams barely took a breath to detail what had been a "whirlwind" succession of events. And it indicated how prepared he's become for the business side of the NBA.

"It's been everything but stable for me," he said. "From traveling different places for different marketing things to coming back to still trying to finish school at the same time while still trying to work out every two to three hours to stay in good shape and maintain the level of play I was at before, to flying out to Golden State to turn around and do a charity thing the next day, to flying out to Chicago and staying there for a week to work out with Ray Allen. It's been real crazy. I've been everywhere but home, but this is the life I've worked hard for. This is what I've always wanted and I'll try to make the best of it."

Williams received much acclaim for completing his schoolwork so that he could earn his degree in three years. Little wonder on the day before the draft that he looked relieved, saying: "Classwork is finito; it's done, it's over with. I don't want to talk about classes anymore."

Both Williams and Dunleavy are optimistic, though both of their teams' futures are up in the air.

"I've always been a city kid," said Williams. "Ever since I was a little kid I always played basketball in New York City and now I get to go to another city that's known for basketball. I'm really excited to go there. I'm completing a dream. It's a great city and a great staff and they still want to win.

"The first thing I thought about is that I get a chance to play in Chicago. I get a chance to play in some of the greatest footsteps in Michael Jordan and Scottie and that team."

Williams is impressed by the backing of the team despite the latest lean years. "Even after a couple of down years, there's great fan support. The city is always behind them whether they lose a game by 20 or 30 points. "Then I look at the players - Tyson (Chandler), Eddie (Curry), Jalen Rose and Eddie Robinson. There's a lot of great players, young and very talented, and now I get to learn under the veteran Jalen Rose. I see myself as running that team and look forward to running the team."

Dunleavy also had plenty of questions to answer during the postdraft media blitz, and he preferred to focus on the future, not the past.

"As far as going from one program to another, Duke was great. I'll always remember that, but I'm not going to look back," he said. "And I'm also not going to look at what's going on with the Warriors and their past. The last few years have been tough, but everything's forward now. It's all about the future.

"I'm excited about being out there. I went to high school in Oregon so I'm kind of used to the West Coast. It's a great area and the organization is on the uprise. It's a wonderful situation for me."

On his pre-draft trip to Golden State, Dunleavy talked about his meeting with Warriors star Antawn Jamison, who had dinner with him. "It meant a lot. It was kind of like a recruiting dinner, showing me that they really wanted me. I just appreciated him coming. It was kind of strange, because any time two guys from Duke and North Carolina get together to have dinner in the area, it usually doesn't go well and people will look at and say, 'What's going on?' But we had a good time. I had a lot of questions for him and he helped me with some stuff."

As for Dunleavy's departure, he said he left in good amends with Krzyewski and his teammates. "I told him I can't go back and he was very understanding," Dunleavy said. "He totally understands and thinks I will represent the program and Duke well."