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PORTLAND. Ore. — The night is Dec. 21, 2010, and BYU has just beaten Weber State in Ogden, 72-66.
One player is destined for NBA greatness, while the other will be nothing more than a role player; in fact, being bought out of his contract by a struggling team midway through a season. At that time, could you have guessed who would be who?
I can imagine few would have picked former Weber State guard Damian Lillard to be the player making the headlines in the NBA playoffs, and I know there are a multitude of local fans (and media) who never ever wanted to think the struggling player would be BYU guard, and 2011 Naismith Award winner, Jimmer Fredette.
The funniest part about that whole game? Lillard didn’t even play, as he was out with a broken foot.
Indeed, Fredette was the big cat, literally and figuratively, in college basketball in 2011. He mesmerized the nation with 3-point shots; he wowed the media with his scoring highlights.
What was Lillard doing? Just rehabbing his injury and putting in many a late night at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, preparing for a life beyond Big Sky Conference play.
While “Jimmermania” swept much of the Salt Lake market, “Lillardmania” was confined to the student section at Weber State.
#WSU
It begs the question — who was the better player? Who was the more legitimate player?
Fredette got a waterfall of attention, and his college exploits certainly deserved it. He did indeed play for one of the premier teams in the market, and his highlights were impressive. Yet, did fans try to create skills that simply weren’t there? Probably.
Indeed, it was Lillard who should have been the focus from Day One. He was the one with the natural skillset built to be ready for the NBA; he was the one who was the most pro-ready prospect. Four years into Jimmer Fredette’s career, the NBA is still waiting for something that will make him a respected player. Just a season into Lillard’s, he won the Rookie of the Year award on a unanimous vote.
After Lillard hit a catch-and-shoot three with time expiring to beat Houston a week ago, Weber State suddenly vaulted onto the national stage, with ESPN personalities stumbling over themselves to mention the school. Shouldn’t they have maybe known it all along?
Lillard’s success, coming from a school in the not-even-close-to-power-conference Big Sky, provides the classic storyline for a rags-to-riches story. Also, with Lillard coming from Oakland, a tough, blue-collar town, to Weber, a school in a non-power conference, it gave him the image of something as an underdog. I am here to say, Lillard never was an underdog. Instead, Lillard was always a superhero — just one who had to overcome adversity to be great.
Weber State coach Randy Rahe has said it many times — he didn’t think his Wildcats could get Lillard to sign to play in Ogden. But they did because of Lillard’s loyalty, and he has shown up to Weber’s big games as often as possible.
Lillard has overcome physical adversity as well, like when he sat out that 2010-11 season with a broken foot. He averaged 19.7 points a game that season, and Weber State appeared to be on its way towards another impressive finish in conference. Of course, the question always remains around athletes who go down with injuries — will they return and be anywhere near the player they were?
Well, Lillard returned from injury for the 2011-12 season and averaged 24.5 points a game.
Scouts lined up to watch Lillard play his senior year at Weber, and it was at that point that the larger public began to take a little notice. Then, Portland drafted him sixth-overall, and he went on to start every game his rookie year, win Rookie of the Year, make the All-Star game his second season, and become the first player to hit a series-winning buzzer-beater since John Stockton’s fabled shot beat Houston in 1997. Or, as they say, the rest was history.
Lillard never was the most recruited player out of high school; never was the biggest, baddest player in the state he played college basketball in; never was widely appreciated for the true college talent he was; never got the widespread draft hype from the fans that he deserved. And, in a sense, that makes his story and success even sweeter, as he now is getting every accolade he always deserved, only he now gets it from the highest level possible.
It’s probably a safe bet to say every basketball fan knows who Damian Lillard is now.
