The first time Santa Clara assistant Jason Ludwig saw Jalen Williams was the summer of 2017. Williams, who had just finished his sophomore year of high school, was playing in a giant AAU tournament. Ludwig was on his way out of the facility after a long weekend of scouting. As he passed a court tucked away in the corner, numbered somewhere in the 50’s, he ran into an AAU coach that he knew.
“Hey Jason, I need you to watch my young kid,” the coach told Ludwig.
Ludwig figured, why not catch one more game? He took a seat next to a handful of parents. In a facility packed full of scouts, he’s pretty sure that he was the only college coach watching Williams that day.
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Those other coaches couldn’t be blamed. There wasn’t much physically that stood out about the 15-year-old. Williams was 5-foot-8 as a high school sophomore. He grew to 6-foot-1 by the time Santa Clara offered him. Who knew that he would be 6-foot-6 when he entered the NBA?
“He was all arms and legs,” Ludwig recalled of the first time that he saw Williams. “Feet too big for his body, ran kind of unorthodox because he hadn’t grown into his body yet.”
Williams did already have his trademark long arms back then. His huge feet also tipped Ludwig off that he might be a late bloomer. It was the way that he played though which stuck out in the coach’s mind.
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“He didn’t run and jump very well, but he was very skilled. He could pass, dribble, shoot. He had a good feel and a great-looking jump shot.”
Ludwig thought that Williams was worth keeping an eye on. If he ever grew into that body, then he could be worth a scholarship down the line.
Ludwig would be lying if he thought that he saw an NBA player that day back in 2017. Williams wasn’t even close to the top 100 of his high school recruiting class.
“I’m just lucky that court happened to be on the way to the exit,” Ludwig admitted.
Williams has always been a late bloomer though. Once thought of as a reach with the No. 12 pick in the 2022 draft, he’s turned into the biggest steal of his class. The Thunder took a risk on him thanks to one of the most impressive combine performances in the event’s history.
The legend of Jalen Williams’ combine performance
Williams was a good player at Santa Clara, but there wasn’t a ton of NBA interest in him. He wasn’t on anyone’s mock draft at the start of the his junior year. By the end of that season, he’d played well enough to be considered a fringe second-round prospect. Santa Clara’s staff believed that there was a good chance he’d come back for his senior season. Williams decided to participate in the NBA Combine, which allows prospect to pull out of the draft after the event and return to school.
Scouts worried that he was an older prospect who was putting up good numbers against so-so competition in a mid-major conference. As a freshman, he scored four points in a 60-point loss to Gonzaga. They wondered if he’d be able to guard better players at the next level.
“I kept hearing concerns about his athleticism,” Ludwig recalled.
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Ludwig thought that was crazy. He’d coached at UCLA and worked with NBA prospects like Russell Westbrook before. Williams wasn’t Westbrook, but he was defending the best player at three positions ever since his freshman year. He knew that once these teams saw him at the combine, those athleticism concerns would evaporate.
Ludwig was right. Williams had one of the most electric combine performances in its history. He shot up draft boards across the league as much as any player in the event’s history. A decision of whether or not to return to Santa Clara became no decision at all.
The hype began building during testing. Williams measured a modest 6-foot-5.75 with shoes. Then it came time to check his wingspan.
There was one problem. His measurement couldn’t be right. Officials measured it again. And again. And again.
The urban legend is that it took 12 times before it was finally accepted and written down. Ludwig knows that it was measured several times, but jokes that the number grows every time he hears the story.
Williams’ massive 7-foot-2.25 wingspan was longer than many centers, such as his 6-foot-10 center teammate, Jaylin “J-Will” Williams. Jalen had the biggest difference between height and wingspan recorded in his draft class.
Williams exploded in the other athletic testing measurements too. His 39.0-inch max vertical was fifth in his class. His 33.5-inch standing vertical was No. 2. His 3.11 three-quarter sprint was fourth. All over the place, he was testing in the top five.
SB Nation draft writer Ricky O’Donnell had been going to the combine since 2013. He remembered everyone talking about the kid out of Santa Clara.
“He was blowing up,” O’Donnell told Sporting News. “In addition to the measurements, he had a combo of great pick-and-roll playmaking and great 3-point percentage. How many guys really give that to you?”
Scouts were beginning to think the mid-major kid could rise into the late first round. The hype turned into a frenzy after the combine’s first 5-on-5 scrimmage.
Many of the top draft prospects avoid the scrimmages like the plague.
“There’s a lot of benefit to hiding and not letting anyone see you play,” O’Donnell said. “You can look for a promise somewhere, or try to go to a team where you want to go.”
Williams had the opposite attitude. He wanted to prove himself, and he was by far the best player in the game. He drove the ball with craft for layups, threw advanced lefty skip passes, and dunked with authority as a roll man.
Alondes Williams beautiful pass to Jalen Williams who finishes the poster! pic.twitter.com/RPLaNDahgT
— Aram Cannuscio (@AC__Hoops) May 19, 2022
Most prospects would have sat out the second day of scrimmages after such a great showing.
“I feel like guys have one good scrimmage and then shut it down. Tahaad Pettiford did that this year, so did Maxime Raynaud. It’s a risk,” O’Donnell said.
Williams had a completely different approach.
“He’s a competitor. He’s not gonna shy away from anything,” Ludwig said.
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Williams came back again the next day, raising his draft stock even further. The fringe second-rounder was now landing in the 20’s range in most mocks.
Entering draft night, Williams’ team thought that the best-case scenario was for a team in the high teens. Worst case, he’d go somewhere in the low 20’s.
The Thunder shocked everyone, including Williams himself, when they decided to select him with the No. 12 pick. Earlier, he had figured he’d blown his predraft workout with them. He didn’t even know who coach Mark Daigneault was when he and Daigneault were talking trash to each other during drills.
“It’s surreal,” Williams told Taylor Rooks in the moments after getting picked. “I don’t really got a lot of words. Walking over here, I’m still shaking.”
Williams ended up making that reach look like a steal. He grew into that body. He’s guarded all five positions in the NBA Finals. He’s been an All-Star, an All-NBA player, and named to the All-Defensive team. Once a complete unknown, he’s turned into one of the brightest young stars in the league.
And the bad news for opponents is that he’s only getting better.
