W2W4: The Rise of Willie Warren

A look at the Oklahoma frosh on the day of one of his first true Big 12 conference tests.

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A frosh taking it to the rack against Purdue's Robbie Hummel? Intense.

Top 10 Big 12 teams Oklahoma and Texas meet tonight at 9pm on ESPN.

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Willie Warren sometimes refers to his recent past like the opening to a classic cautionary tale.

He bolted Oak Hill Academy, a veritable one-stop shop for potential NBA talent, after just a month. His most famous viral clip screams "hot head." He attended a summer session with Kobe and LeBron where people noticed the kid chirping with Kobe and refusing a picture with LeBron.

But look at the Sooner frosh now.

He's the second leading scorer on the 15-1 squad.

"Coming into college I was overshadowed by some of the bigger names like Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, B.J. Mullens, Greg Monroe, but even now it's great playing next to Blake Griffin because it lets people see how I can play with another superstar," says Warren. He can't always hide some of that whispered-about bravado, though. "Before I've always been the guy who could just shoot it 30 times a game, or whenever I wanted because my team wasn't as talented as other teams."

Warren used to enjoy the limelight more, but perhaps sensed how well he could do in the shadow of a #1 pick.

"He's the best player I've ever played with," says Warren of Griffin, "and a big reason why I wanted to come here. Just knowing he'd be here to carry the load I knew people would see that I could be more than a guy who has to shoot."

But close observers are starting to look at Warren as a player emerging as a star in his own right.

"Warren and James Harden are very similar, which is a huge compliment to Warren. They're both true dual-threat players who can hurt opposing defenses inside and outside the arc," says John Gasaway of Basketball Prospectus. "They are also both quite capable of making the right pass at the right time."

Warren is scoring 15.8 ppg, including shooting just under 40 percent from three-point range. His passing has also impressed. His 3.0 APG is second behind only senior point guard Austin Johnson.

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Regarding the deflection from Oak Hill: It wasn't because of the competition. Far away from home, Warren simply felt he'd lost control of his future. Oak Hill is filled with high school hoops mercenaries from all over the country. His friend Brandon Jennings was out in Virginia from L.A., and according to Warren, desperately wanting to qualify and play college ball. After a month in Virginia, and a few games into the season, Warren called home. He wanted out.

"If I had stayed up (at Oak Hill), there's no telling where I could've ended up. Seriously."

"When he got there, he didn't like it," Malaika Frazier, Warren's mom, said last year.

Back home, even as a star, he had to lobby his way back onto the team at North Crowley High, a school whose program isn't a decade old.

Warren says the whole experience was worth it.

"If I had stayed up there, there's no telling where I could've ended up," says Warren. "Seriously."

He wanted to commit to coach Jeff Capel and Oklahoma, but after his earlier indecisiveness, Warren's mother made him wait a while. But she too was eventually sold on the Sooners.

When he committed, Capel gushed, "Willie's a special player. He's one of the best guards in the country. I think he's the best, especially from seeing him this summer and how he scored the ball."

Sports fans may just have too much practice with taking subtle warning signs and assembling the montage of a bad apple. But, at least so far, any negative montage for Willie is a mirage.

The only cautionary tale involving Willie Warren, at least to this point in the story, is to overlook him.

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