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Syracuse University.
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Billy Owens
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He played college basketball for Syracuse. Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Owens played for Carlisle High School. As a high school senior, Owens averaged 34 points per game, and helped lead Carlisle High School (Pennsylvania) to four consecutive state titles.
He was considered to be the second best prep player of 1988, behind Alonzo Mourning.He may have been scared off of attending University of North Carolina due to the presence of fellow superprep Kenny Williams.
Owens and Mourning were co-Most Valuable Player"s in the McDonalds" Game. Throughout his career, Owens drew some comparisons to Magic Johnson due to his great versatility, ball handling and passing skills for his height.
In his three seasons with Syracuse he averaged 17.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game out of 103 games. As a 6"8" small forward/shooting guard from Syracuse University, he was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 1991 National Basketball Association Draft.
However, after Owens remained a holdout beyond the start of the regular season, he was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for high-scoring guard Mitch Richmond.
The trade broke up the popular "Run Technology Marketing Corporation" trio of Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, and Chris Mullin. Owens" additional height compared to Richmond was the size that coach and general manager Don Nelson believed would complete the team Nelson said he "was under pressure to get bigger" to improve the Warriors from a good team to a great one.
Owens averaged over 15 points and nearly eight rebounds during his tenure with the Warriors, including an National Basketball Association All-Rookie First Team selection in 1992.
However, he never provided his expected impact and played only three seasons with Golden State. Owens spent ten seasons with the Warriors, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Detroit Pistons before a string of injuries finally took its toll.
He also fell out of favor with many basketball analysts who felt that his lack of drive & commitment to improving his game took him out of the list of up & coming stars of his era. He played for the United States national team in the 1990 International Basketball Federation World Championship, winning the bronze medal.
