Texas Tech basketball’s Darrion Williams on turning the page to Florida and the Elite Eight
Texas Tech basketball’s Darrion Williams on turning the page to Florida and the Elite Eight
Texas Tech basketball star Darrion Williams is reportedly set to declare for the 2025 NBA Draft, according to a report from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
Givony’s report on social media also says that Williams will also enter the transfer portal while going through the draft process.
Williams earned himself more national eyeballs with his exploits during Texas Tech’s NCAA Tournament run where he hit the game-tying 3-pointer and the game-winning bucket in the Red Raiders’ comeback win over Arkansas in the Sweet 16.
For the season, Williams earned first team all-Big 12 honors by averaging 15.1 points and 5.5 rebounds, shooting 43.9% from the field, 34.0% from 3 and 83.6% from the free throw line. He also had 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Williams was also named to the all-West Region team for the NCAA Tournament.
What to know about Texas Tech basketball’s Darrion Williams declaring for NBA Draft, entering transfer portal
For Texas Tech fans, this means a variety of things, but the most important thing to consider is the timing. Players have until April 22 to enter the transfer portal and until April 26 to declare for the draft.
For any player that might not be sure what their draft prospects are, the best way to utilize the process is to declare for the draft, maintain your college eligibility and hit the transfer portal.
This is precisely what Williams is doing. Mock drafts have Williams a potential late-first round pick while others have him as a second-round choice. Williams’ position in the draft is a bit all over, so it’s wisest to declare and go through the process, try to earn an invite to the scouting combine and go from there.
Williams will likely command a much bigger NIL deal this year after his March Madness heroics with more and more teams wanting to bring in someone as versatile as the 6-foot-6 forward out of Sacramento.
A return to Texas Tech is still very possible as Tech will likely want to keep Williams at all costs if he does forgo the pros for his senior year of college.
The deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft isn’t until June 15, so this process could play out for a while, similar to how JT Toppin joined Texas Tech last year.
