Camila Sosa
One of the top prospects coming out of the Blue Devils will try his luck in the 2022 NBA draft, and Mark Williams, Duke University’s starting center, today declared himself eligible to be part of the league’s prospect competition to be held on June 23rd.
The Growth of Mark Williams
The sophomore had the best season of his NCAA career, averaging 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 23.6 minutes through 39 games, all starts under Mike Krzyzewski. William represented the defensive linchpin for a Duke squad that reached the Final Four for the first time since 2015, the same year of their last national title. Unfortunately, they were eliminated by the University of North Carolina, which finished as runner-up in the tournament after being defeated by the University of Kansas.
On his Instagram profile the 20-year-old left his farewell to the Blue Devils and shared what his feeling is currently as he begins his professional career.
”First of all I want to thank God for providing me with the ability to play this game that I love, I started playing basketball when I was five years old and I have not looked back. To be a kid from Virginia Beach and continue to play basketball at the highest level is surreal in itself. These last three years have been great for me, having the opportunity to play in front of the best fans in the world, and receiving their support both at home and away was terrific.”
”I want to thank Coach K and the rest of the staff for pushing me every day to be the best possible player I can be. This year was incredible. We were part of a historic run in Coach K’s last dance and made it to the Final Four. I want to congratulate Coach K on his retirement and I’m excited to see Coach Scheyer lead this new era of Duke Basketball. I want to thank my teammates because without them, the season we had wouldn’t have been possible.”
”Playing in the NBA has always been a dream of mine. Duke has prepared me to take this next step and I’m excited to announce I’ll be declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft. I wanna thank my friends and family who helped me to get to this point, and also the entire Duke community for welcoming me with open arms. While I may be leaving campus right now, Duke will always be family, and Duke will always be home.”
Mark Williams, on his social networks.
The infielder is shaping up to be one of the most highly rated prospects at his position, making him a very likely selection among the first 20 picks of the first round. In his senior year with Duke he earned All-ACC, ACC All-Defense selections and was also named Defensive Player of the Year within the same conference.
