Name: Dean Ollie
Age: 20
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 248lbs
College: Arizona
Position: Power Forward
The biggest thing at Waxahachie High School wasn't the name of the town. It was the huge frame of a 6'8, 220 pound senior by the name of Dean Ollie. He had found himself on the draft radar after only seven games, with averages of 36ppg and 21rpg. His sheer size advantage over most of the opponents he faced meant Ollie just basically had to reach upwards in order to grab rebounds. College scouts from all over the country came to watch the dominating displays that had become a regular occurance for Dean Ollie. After getting an invitation to the McDonalds All-Star game, where he posted 14 points and 11 rebounds, Ollie's draft value escalated and he had found himself projected to be picked in the top 20. GM's were hoping to cash in on the Amare Stoudemire foundation, drafting athletic high school power forwards and seeing them turn into superstars. This was not to be the case with Dean Ollie. At the time it seemed wise, but Dean Ollie ignored all of the calls for him to declare for the draft instead of going to college. A multi million dollar guaranteed contract awaited the big Texan, but his religious background and education focused parents convinced him that college was the only route for him to take. Ollie listened to their wishes and took it onboard, he started filing through the endless scholarships he had received throughout the year and finally settled on five schools. Duke offered him the chance to play for the most prestigous basketballing school in the country, however that would come with a price as they didn't think he was ready to fully feature for their starting 5. Ollie finally settled on Arizona. It was a location similar to where he already was, and they offered him the chance to start at power forward which is essentially what he wanted all along.
In the summer before his first year at Arizona, Ollie was shocked to find out he had actually grown quite alot in a short period of time. Now standing at 6'10 Ollie saw this as his chance to be more dominant than he had been at high school, which for most of the basketball community was hard to believe. Problems arose though in his very first training session. Despite his unexpected growth, he had not put on any weight whatsoever during the time. Ollie found himself being bullied and pushed around by the bigger, stronger and more experienced Arizona big men. Sensing this could be a problem for the coming season, the coaching staff devised a weight gain program for Ollie. The aim was to gain fifteen pounds of pure muscle over the course of the season, so while he would not have a great chance to impress in his freshman year, if all went well with his weight plan he would return to form as a sophmore. This didn't sit too well with Dean Ollie. He didn't come to Arizona to be a bench warmer for the first season until he put on weight, if that was the case he would've signed with Duke where he would've at least stayed in the minds of NBA scouts. After a heated argument with coaches after practice one day, it was finally decided that Ollie would try and play a new style. Taking advantage of his new found speed, Ollie would play as a small forward in the hope that he could develop his ball handling and outside shooting skills enough to come back in his sophmore season in the Kevin Garnett mould. A powerful, athletic player with great handles and a nice shooting touch. The excitement about the situation swept through the school and thousands gathered in anticipation for Ollie's debut game against Arizona State. After ten minutes, Ollie had managed to build up four turnovers. He was pulled from the game and would not return. Arizona went on to lose 75-61
This is all it took for not only the fans, but alot of NBA scouts to turn on the big youngster. At just nineteen years old, Dean Ollie had become the villian in only one game. News reports sprung up everywhere claiming that Ollie was a high school wonder, and without his infamous strength, he didn't have the skills needed to be able to play away from the basket and take men off the dribble. Ollie was subsequently moved to the bench where he backed up a more experienced swingman who could hold on to the ball for more than ten seconds. Ollie continued his weight training as planned, but it backfired and instead of building muscle he actually built fat. His weight ballooned to 260lbs, and while his strength returned he had lost his speed, athletisism and endurance. Now all that existed of the former predicted top 20 draft pick was an overweight nineteen year old who spent most of his time sitting on the end of the Arizona bench. Seen as a flop by almost everyone, Ollie took it upon himself to try and get himself back into shape. By the end of the season he was down to 255lbs, and had burnt a large percentage of the fat and built muscle instead. In his final game Ollie, playing power forward, posted 18 points and 13 rebounds which were both college career highs for him. Out of nowhere, quite possibly based on this one performance, Dean Ollie decided to declare for the NBA draft and try to bank on some of his former draft hype. Thinking he could get taken at least in the 2nd round, Ollie was brutally disappointed when he wasn't drafted at all. Continuing with his weight plan, Ollie once again took the initiative and randomly showed up to the training camp of the Atlanta Hawks. Claiming to have reformed his entire body and gone back to his high school form, Ollie was granted a chance to try out for the team and he didn't disappoint. Averaging 23ppg and 11rpg in only 26mpg he was prompty signed to a 3 year guaranteed contract with the rebuilding Atlanta Hawks. Dean Ollie had eventually seen his hard work paid off, even if it meant a horror season at Arizona he would rather forget.
- Code:
MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG
04-05 Arizona 16.7 37.1 12.3 51.0 5.6 1.2 4.0 0.8 0.1 5.1
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TOTALS 16.7 37.1 12.3 51.0 5.6 1.2 4.0 0.8 0.1 5.1