Thanks for the memories, Derrick

Derrick Williams held his final press conference as an Arizona Wildcat Wednesday morning to address his decision to declare for the NBA draft.

If you read my post from the day after his announcement, you probably could tell I was a bit distraught about his departure. After all, why would anyone want Williams to leave? He led the team in field goal percentage (59.5 percent), rebounding (8.3 per game), blocks, steals, points scored and moments that make you shriek like a little girl. When he wasn’t posterizing his opponents, he was shooting extra free throws, studying his competition on film and granting countless autograph and photo requests from his fans. Even when Williams became larger than life in Tucson and across the country, he remained the humble, hard-working kid from La Mirada, Calif.

It’s going to be tough watching him play in another uniform knowing he could have stayed at Arizona. But Wildcat fans cannot become bitter about Williams’ too-short time here. Instead, be thankful for what he did for this program: He put Arizona back on the map for good. Williams is too humble to say this, but he alone was the reason for the team’s national attention this season, which led to multiple commitments from nationally renowned recruits, which leads to the foundation of a dynasty.

Here’s what it boils down to: Williams is a 19-year-old kid about to realize his dream. He will soon be paid millions to play with and against his idols and do what he loves most. If you were in his position, wouldn’t you do the same? He was beaming at the press conference when talking about using his first paycheck to touch up his mom’s house and buy her a new car. How can you be mad about that?

As I sat five feet from Williams in the media room, I sat back and stopped listening for a second. I just watched him talk, watched him interact with everyone else there. It hit me during that half hour that I was witnessing history: One of the greatest Wildcats of all time was saying goodbye to the program that put him on the map; that made him Derrick Williams.

The reporters surrounding me were putting him on the list of legendary Wildcats alongside Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott and Mike Bibby. Think about that: Kerr and Elliott played here in the ‘80s, and Bibby in the ‘90s, and we’re still talking about them decades later. So, years from now, when we all have our own families and raise our kids to be Wildcats, Williams is going to be that player we wax poetic about decades removed from his college career.

But before that happens, first comes the NBA draft in late June. We don’t know which pick he’ll be or which team he’s going to, but we will know one thing: Walking across the stage and shaking David Stern’s hand will be Derrick Williams representing the University of Arizona.