Derrick Williams did a lot. He scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds a night, got a game-winning block to save the Arizona Wildcats from a home loss to the Washington Huskies and led his team to a Pacific 10 Conference regular season title.
It all wasn't enough to earn first team All-American honors in the eyes of the Associated Press.
Arizona's sophomore forward got a second team vote, falling behind first-teamers in BYU guard Jimmer Fredette, UConn guard Kemba Walker, Duke guard Nolan Smith, Purdue forward JaJuan Johnson and Ohio State center Jared Sullinger.
That's OK.
Sure, Williams probably felt snubbed. He posted on Twitter that he should've jacked up 20+ shots a game before deleting it from his feed.
He probably realized, after a brief moment of feeling disrespected, that it doesn't matter in the end. Second team doesn't matter for a future NBA career, where scouts will have seen Williams' talent on film if they haven't already.
If he returns he doesn't need it either.
The Wildcats went against all expectations, only the crazy, distrustful words of a shallow-analyzing Charles Barkley and a basketball-knowledgeless talk-show host in Ellen DeGeneres believing Arizona would amount to something greater than a first-round NCAA Tournament exit.
All because of Williams.
Just look at Arizona. Not a especially great shooting team -- yes, I say that even after they were one of the best in the nation -- was so good because teams would take a Kyle Fogg jumper over Williams scoring 30 per outing. It was perfectly shown in Anaheim, Calif., where foul trouble took Williams out of the game and led to a huge UConn Husky swing in the score.
Williams created so many problems for other teams that even when he had a bad game, terrible even, his team was better off than without him at all. Ask the squads who faced him, and they'll tell you he might've been player of the year.
Memphis Tiger head coach Josh Pastner said he voted for Williams. Probable NCAA player of the year in UConn guard Kemba Walker said the same thing before the Huskies played Arizona.
Of course, Walker's head coach, Jim Calhoun, said Williams might be second, behind his savvy point guard. Still, it goes to show that the AP simply hadn't seen Williams.
Those who had, knew the whole deal.
Those who hadn't chose Purdue's Johnson, a guy with better numbers than Williams, comprable shooting percentages, and blocks that came otherwise of game winners. Not a bad choice. Plus, consider that the votes were tallied before the postseason, and you miss out on some of Williams' best clutch moments.
That ignorance comes down to TV contracts, one that Pacific 10 Conference president Larry Scott is, should I say, "has been for a while," trying to fix.
So yeah, Williams ended up on the second team. But look at all the compliments that came about over the course of this season, and you'll realize it's a symptom of a lack of knowledge, not disrespect.
If anything, look at it this way Wildcat fans; just another reason for Superman to prove everyone wrong yet again.