Warren’s frustrating season turns sad
Willie Warren has played lightning rod almost as much as he’s played basketball this season.
It’s been a tough year for the Oklahoma guard who has been through suspension and sickness and injury. There has been criticism. There has been questioning. There has been head shaking.
And that’s just from his coach.
But Jeff Capel wasn’t the only one who wondered about Warren. This is a guy who was projected to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft a year ago. He was all over preseason All-American teams and even was picked as the preseason national player of the year by at least one publication.
At the time, it didn’t seem farfetched.
Now, it seems like an alternate universe.
He hasn’t had the season that anyone imagined, and now, it might be over. Capel said Thursday that Warren wouldn’t play the rest of the regular season because of his ankle injury and that the sophomore’s return for the Big 12 Tournament was questionable.
It could be a sad end to a sad season.
I’ll admit — I’ve been critical of Warren throughout the season. Not today. Not when a young person’s future may be in jeopardy. If he leaves now for the NBA, as some suspect he will, how badly has he hurt his draft stock? Would he be drafted at all? Could he become another footnote in the sad stories of athletes who never quite made it?
Throughout the season, it was frustrating that a player with so much talent, so much potential would so thoroughly struggle. But now as Warren’s season and perhaps his college career winds down, it’s just sad.
