As the NBA Draft’s early entrant withdrawal date of June 15th nears, we’ll learn about more stay or go decisions. Former Texas Tech wing Darrion Williams decided to test the NBA waters and enter the transfer portal, but he withdrew his name from the 2025 NBA Draft today.
Williams averaged 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists for an excellent Texas Tech team this past season, placing inside the top 50 in Bart Torvik’s Box Plus-Minus stat. His participation in the combine drills and scrimmages didn’t garner him much NBA buzz, though.
He’s absent from most mainstream mock drafts, not appearing on the Rookie Scale 2025 NBA Draft consensus big board. Williams measured at 6’4.5 without shoes with a 6’6.5 wingspan, a bit smaller than teams hoped for projecting Williams to the wing at the NBA level. He’s still an excellent player who college basketball teams will covet.
Which team would fit Williams best?
CBS Sports’s Isaac Trotter reported that teams like Kansas, Ohio State and NC State will be interested in the 22-year-old wing’s services. The Jayhawks added a few perimeter transfers, including former Illinois guard Tre White, but Williams would instantly slot in as their best wing player. He’d benefit from playing next to top recruit Darryn Peterson, whose elite creation and passing would make Williams’s life easier.
Ohio State added four transfers this offseason, but three of them are big men and the other is a guard. There would be plenty of room for Williams to come in and add value on both ends of the floor. The Buckeyes returned Devin Royal on the perimeter, but they need more bodies on the wing.
Adding Williams would round out a phenomenal offseason for new head coach Will Wade at North Carolina State. There isn’t as much room on the wing in Raleigh, as Wade landed Quadir Copeland and Terrance Arceneaux as transfers and retained promising freshman Paul McNeil Jr. Williams’s playmaking, especially, would add a different dimension to that roster.
Williams is one of the better passers on the wing in the country. He’s a smooth floor processor, capable of operating pick and rolls and playmaking from the post and the middle of the floor. That passing, combined with Williams’s sturdy outside shooting and strength creation, makes him an elite college basketball player.
darrion williams is a high level wing passer, posting a 27.7% assist rate with a 2.1 a:to. so manipulative and creative with excellent vision
his quick processor lets him pass out of a variety of playtypes, whether that be pnr reads, postups or off ball. awesome player pic.twitter.com/fl2iY7d5XN
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) January 22, 2025
Wherever Williams lands will benefit greatly from his two-way impact. He’ll have the chance to lead whichever team he lands on to the NCAA Tournament and play himself back into draft conversations in 2026.
