Willie Cauley-Stein

Willie Trill Cauley-Stein (born Willie Durmond Cauley Jr.; August 18, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Openjobmetis Varese of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).

He played college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats.

He was born and raised in Spearville, Kansas, population 791.

His mother, Marlene Stein, and his father, Willie Cauley, met shortly after high school and never married, and his father was not in his life from soon after his birth.

His Catholic maternal grandparents, Norma and Val Stein, helped raise him, and he legally changed his surname from Cauley to Cauley-Stein.

As a high school freshman, he was 6 ft. As a sophomore he transferred to Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kansas, where he played basketball and football.

As a junior, he averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

In 2011, he helped his high school win a 7-on-7 football tournament at the University of Kansas and was offered a football scholarship on the spot.

In his senior season, Cauley-Stein averaged 19.7 yards per catch while sometimes playing as cornerback.

He finished with 64 catches for 1,265 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Cauley-Stein started out his college career as a bench center, backing up top prospect Nerlens Noel.

During his time as a back-up, Cauley-Stein ended up averaging 7.8 points on 63.9% field goal shooting, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 steals in 20 games of play.

Cauley-Stein earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors twice.

Cauley-Stein's season high came against Vanderbilt as he posted 20 points to go with seven rebounds.

A couple of weeks prior, he was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field against Auburn.

Considered a four-star basketball recruit by Rivals.com, Cauley-Stein was listed as the No. 9 center and the No. 40 player in the nation in 2012.

Cauley-Stein was not eligible to play varsity football until his senior year, but he was convinced to play wide receiver when he did.

On February 12, 2013, in a game against Florida, Noel tore the ACL in his left knee after blocking a lay-up, forcing him to sit out the remainder of the season.

Cauley-Stein was given the starting center position due to Noel's season-ending injury.

In Noel's absence, he recorded three double-doubles in six games including 10 points and 11 rebounds against Georgia in addition to 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks at Arkansas

After SEC play ended he was named to the All-SEC Freshman team.

At the end of the season he averaged 8.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game after appearing in 29 games while making 14 starts.

During the 2013–14 season, he appeared in 37 games, making 18 starts while averaging 6.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game.

His tallied 106 blocks for the season is a total that ranks as the second most in a single season in school history.

His terrific sophomore season led to him being named to the All-SEC Defensive Team.

He recorded a career-high nine blocks twice during the season against Providence and Boise State.

He really started coming into his own towards the end of the season.

In the SEC tournament, he recorded 10 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks versus #1 Florida in the SEC championship game.

Due to an injury to his leg suffered during the 2014 NCAA tournament in a game against Louisville, Cauley-Stein missed the remainder of the season.

He decided to return for his junior season due to his injury; he was a projected top-15 pick in the 2014 NBA draft prior to his injury.

In 2014–15, Cauley-Stein was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

He was also selected to the All-SEC First Team, the All-SEC Defensive Team and the USA Today first-team All-American Team.

On April 9, 2015 Cauley-Stein, and teammates Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, and Karl-Anthony Towns, all declared to enter their names into the NBA draft.

On June 25, 2015, Cauley-Stein was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

On July 16, he signed with the Kings.

He made his debut for the Kings in their season opener on October 28, recording two points and two rebounds in a 111–104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

He made his first career start two days later and recorded 17 points and nine rebounds in a 132–114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cauley-Stein missed most of December with a right index finger injury.

On January 20, he recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 112–93 win over the Lakers.

On March 25, he scored a then career-high 26 points in a 116–94 win over the Phoenix Suns.