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OGDEN -- With Tuesday night's loss at Montana, the Weber State basketball team missed an opportunity to earn the Big Sky championship and the right to host the semi-finals and championship game of the conference tournament on March 6-7.
There were many reasons why I had hoped to see the Wildcats pull off the win. The biggest of which was that local basketball fans would've had one last chance to watch a young man that most along the Wasatch Front have not seen play in person.
Although he has not announced a decision yet, many experts feel that Wildcats point guard Damian Lillard will opt to go pro after this season. In talking with several NBA scouts this season, many of them project Lillard to be a mid to late first round draft choice this June.
Other than the Weber State fans in the Ogden area, most hoops aficionados along the Wasatch Front have read about him (usually on page six of the sports section), but have never seen him play in person. If you haven't, you've missed something special.
Lillard will likely leave as the Wildcats' second leading scorer of all time. He is also second all-time in school history in three-point field goals made and in free throws made. The rest of his resume is equally as impressive.
He began his Weber State career by being named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year for 2008-09. Lillard blossomed the next year, as he was named the Big Sky player of the year and honorable mention All-American after his sophomore season with the Wildcats, as he averaged 19.9 points.
I had the chance to call one of the highlights of his career when he hit a runner in the lane with one-half second remaining in a triple overtime victory at Idaho State.
Last season, Lillard was again off to a good start. However, his junior year was cut short as he suffered a foot injury nine games into the season and was forced to take a medical redshirt. Lillard was caught off guard that December day in Coach Randy Rahe's office, when the coach suggested that he take advantage of his chance to work on his game. "But my foot's broken," Lillard replied.
Despite the injury, Damian took his coach's advice and went to work. If on one day he could not run or jump, then it was off to the weight room or the film room. Lillard would spend four or five days per week in lifting weights and even more time in the video room, where he would study all 71 games he had previously played for the Wildcats.
All of that has paid off for Lillard this season.
Lillard leads all of Division I basketball is scoring and has been named the Big Sky Player of the Week six times. He set a career high with 41 points in a 91-89 double overtime win at home against San Jose State. He recently led the Wildcats to back-to-back home victories over Portland State and Northern Colorado with 40 and 35 points, respectively, but he does it all within the framework of the offense. Lillard has scored 35 or more points on five occasions this year, as the Wildcats reached twenty wins for the 25th time in 50 D-I seasons.
"I'd be lying if I thought he'd be scoring at the pace he is," Rahe told the San Francisco Chronicle. "He's really an unselfish player. He's as hard a worker as I've seen in 22 years of coaching. He's an absolute joy to coach. He's always trying to get better. He's got a very humble approach. He thinks compliments make you soft."
He was also the US Basketball Writers National Player of the Week for January 2-8, as he averaged 34 points, six rebounds and five assists for the week in Wildcats victories at Eastern Washington and Portland State.
Lillard has been named to the John Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list, a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard and a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Award for National Player of the Year.
One of the biggest tributes to his talent did not come from a media panel, but from an opposing coach.
When BYU prepared for their game against Weber State last December and with the NBA lockout keeping players out of camp, Cougars' Head Coach Dave Rose asked Jimmer Fredette to come to practice and imitate Lillard on the scout team to make sure the Cougars were ready to defend the nation's leading scorer. The preparation seemed to help because BYU limited Lillard to a season-low 15 points, well below the 28 point per game average that Lillard had at the time.
I've had the chance to watch Damian Lillard play in person over a half dozen times this season alone and many more times throughout his Weber State career. Hopefully, you can make up for lost time and at least watch him play on television at the Big Sky Conference tournament in Missoula.
If you don't, you will probably have to wait until he visits EnergySolutions Arena next season as he wears an NBA uniform.
