How good was Russell Westbrook in NCAA basketball? We take a look at his college stats, career, and highlights
The Seattle Supersonics selected Russell Westbrook with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft before the team relocated to Oklahoma City six days later. Over the years, Russ is known to be a high-energy, intense player, and that trait has been with him since his college years.
Russell Westbrook currently plays for the LA Lakers, alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Although his fit has been questioned, the veteran guard is slowly starting to gel well with the team.
The nine-time All-Star has won almost everything in the NBA except a championship, which is the main reason he joined the Lakers. Russell Westbrook has won the league MVP, been a two-time scoring champ, three-time assists leader, and has the most triple-doubles in league history.
🎂 Happy 33rd birthday to Russell Westbrook!
📊 955 GP, 23.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 8.6 APG
🎯 43.7 FG%, 30.5 3P%, 78.9 FT%
⭐️ 9x (2011-2013, 2015-2020)
🏆 2017 MVP
Westbrook has recorded 150 triple-doubles since 2016-17, almost 25% of the entire NBA's total over than span. https://t.co/anBq2eL3sb
Before his dominance in the NBA, it all started in a college program with the University of California, Los Angeles. Following his incredible performance in high school and increase in height, the then head coach recruited him to play for the UCLA Bruins.
That said, let's take a look at Russell Westbrook's college stats and highlights.
Russell Westbrook's college career, stats, and highlights
Russell Westbrook spent only two years in college before entering the NBA draft. Although his productivity was low in his rookie year, he picked things up in his sophomore campaign, averaging 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals in his college years.
Despite his brilliance in high school, Russell Westbrook was used as a rotation player, mainly for his defense and energy off the bench. But good fortune made Russ a starter, which was when he truly showed what he could do.
Russell Westbrook's freshman year with the UCLA Bruins was not the most glamorous, as he did not get as much playtime as he would have liked. He played in all 36 games as a fresher but started only one game where Darren Collison was out due to an injury.
Despite averaging 25.1 points during his high school senior year, Russell Westbrook was not the high-scoring guard in college. He only had three double-figure scoring games, averaging 3.4 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.
Nonetheless, Russell Westbrook had a better sophomore campaign, as he started 34 of 39 games in that campaign. With increased playtime, Russ successfully scored double figures in 28 of 39 games, helping them achieve a 35-4 record that year.
A 17-point game on a .636 field goal percentage for Russell Westbrook against Xavier helped the Bruins reach a third consecutive Final Four in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose-led Memphis knocked them out of the competition despite Westbrook's 22-point game.
At the end of the year, Russell Westbrook won the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year award, and also made the All-Pac-10 Third Team. He finished his sophomore year averaging 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.6 steals.