John Wall is a professional basketball player with the NBA's Washington Wizards. After a distinguished high school career, Wall enrolled at the University of Kentucky. After only one season with the Wildcats, he entered the NBA draft was selected by the Wizards with the first overall pick. Wall is described as having displayed admirable character while in college.
Background and High School Play
Wall was born on September 6th, 1990 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was an extremely successful high-school player. Wall and his Word of God Christian Academy team were runners-up in North Carolina's 1A division his senior season. During his senior year, Wall averaged 22.1 points, 5.5 assists, 5.2 rebounds and two steals per game. He was ranked highly by a number of scouting entities, including Rivals.com, which rated Wall as the year's top college prospect.
Kentucky
Wall turned down offers from notable college basketball programs such as Duke and Kansas in order to go to Kentucky. At Kentucky, Wall received many awards; he was the 2009-10 SEC Player of the Year and 2009-2010 Yahoo! Sports SEC Player of the Year. He was also a Sporting News First Team All-American. In December of 2009, Wall set the assist record at Kentucky during a game against the University of Hartford. His 16 assists were one better than Travis Ford's previous record of 15. He was the first Kentucky player to be taken first overall in the NBA draft.
NBA
During his first season in the pros, Wall averaged 37.8 minutes and 16.4 points per game. Wall played in 69 games and scored 1,131 points in his debut season. He also grabbed 317 rebounds (including 282 defensive rebounds) and dished out 574 assists. His average of 8.3 assists per game was sixth-highest in the NBA in 2010-2011.
Praise
Wall consistently gained praise and respect from the coaching staff and fellow players at the University of Kentucky. He was cited for his leadership, academic dedication and hard work. Wall was noted for not relying solely on his talent; he continually worked hard to improve himself. Kentucky head coach John Calipiari described Wall as a "program builder, not a taker." Calipiari further stated that Wall was a "player coaches dream about because he's a natural leader with the skill to make others better."
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