Prospects Make Their Point
by Matt Akler
raptors.com --- June 21, 2002

The Raptors continued their assessment of draft prospects Friday morning as next Wednesday's decision day gets closer.

This session saw a crop of point guards come to town, some for the second time, including Smush Parker of Fordham and Marcus Taylor of Michigan State. A day earlier, management cast its eyes on forwards and centres.

Frank Williams is one of the top point guard prospects in the 2002 NBA Draft.
Frank Williams, an All-America point guard from Illinois, who was scheduled to work out for the club a few weeks ago, finally was able to display his skills in Toronto. While he did a good job in front of the scrutineers, he found it hard to assess his own performance.

"You never know how it goes, but I felt pretty good. Any time you go to workouts you hope to compete and get an idea where you stand. I think I'd be a good fit and help this team at the point guard position," Williams said.

Williams described himself as "a more athletic point guard, a defensive stopper who likes to penetrate, an unselfish player."

However, a smart athlete should be aware of his own deficiencies and the 6-3 junior fits in that category.

"I've got to be in better shape for the NBA game, everyone can always get better, and I need to improve on my shooting."

The Raptors brass was suitably impressed with Williams' game as well as the other guards in attendance.

"We had five point guards who were good and we had a good look at some guys a second time," Raptors assistant general manager Bob Zuffelato said about Lynn Greer of Temple and Tito Maddox of Fresno State who worked out with Williams, Taylor and Parker.

"Frank had a good group to work against and he did well in two-on-two drills, and one-on-one. He shot the ball pretty well, especially the threes, and we hadn’t seen that before. He's also a good defender."

Williams, who left school with one year of eligibility remaining, plans to continue his studies towards a degree in communications, but he is hoping that he has already delivered a message to the Raptors and other NBA teams about his readiness for the pros.