Down the Line: Mark Williams, Dereon Seabron shine in G League, gain call-ups to NBA
Two rookies from Hampton Roads and the ACC already are among the NBA G League’s most productive players, giving them hope of an enduring promotion to the world’s best basketball league.
Mark Williams, who spent two years with Duke after starring for Norfolk Academy and Florida’s IMG Academy, averaged 22.8 points (13th in the league), 14.2 rebounds (second) and 2.6 blocks (tied for third) in his first five games for the Greensboro Swarm, the affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets. The only player with a better efficiency rating than Williams’ 31.0 is Gabe York (34.0), who leads the league at 31.3 ppg.
Williams has gone back and forth from Greensboro to Charlotte, which drafted him 15th overall this year. As a Hornet, the 7-footer has played five games, averaging 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in about seven minutes per contest. He’s currently with the Hornets, but he missed Friday’s game against Cleveland because of an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, former North Carolina State and Lake Taylor High standout Dereon Seabron, 22, is averaging 21 points (tied for 25th), 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists (tied for 28th) for the Birmingham Squadron. He is shooting 50.6% from the floor. The undrafted 6-foot-5, 180-pound Seabron gained a brief call-up by the New Orleans Pelicans, though he didn’t appear in a game.
Canadian champ: Peyton Ryder, a former standout linebacker for Phoebus High and Christchurch School, sparked his Canadian Junior Football League team to the Canadian Bowl championship last weekend in Regina, Saskatchewan.
In the lead-up to Sunday’s Grey Cup title game, also in Regina, Ryder’s Okanagan Sun outlasted the Regina Thunder 21-17 in the game’s 114th edition in a clash of unbeaten teams.
The CJFL plays much like the pro Canadian Football League, with fields wider than in the U.S. and 110 yards long.
Ryder has dual American/Canadian citizenship because his father, Lonny, grew up near Toronto. He has become one of the CJFL’s best tacklers and linebackers. Peyton played for Phoebus in ninth and 10th grade, then got a full scholarship to Christchurch, a boarding school on the Middle Peninsula. He led the Seahorses to a Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association championship, but was frustrated to only receive a preferred walk-on offer while originally recruited by Virginia Tech.
Even considering the COVID border hassles of 2020 and ‘21, Ryder’s adventures in Canada, where he is in between stints playing college football, have been an excellent alternative. Because of the dual citizenship, Lonny encouraged Peyton to consider Canadian football, and he has thrived north of the border. We’ll be exploring this in further publications.
What’s coming up
Tuesday: In men’s basketball, Norfolk State will play host to Division III Saint Mary’s of Maryland at 7 p.m. at Echols Hall. At the same time, Christopher Newport, ranked No. 4 in Division III, will meet Methodist at 7 p.m. at Freeman Center.
Wednesday: William & Mary’s men’s basketball team will play host to Radford at 2 p.m. at Kaplan Arena.
Thursday: Road races are set across Hampton Roads for Thanksgiving morning. They include: the Fast Before the Feast 5K in Newport News, which will start at 8:30 near Warwick High, and the Blue Talon Bistro Turkey Trot 5K at 8:30 around Colonial Williamsburg and William & Mary.
Saturday: Old Dominion’s men’s basketball team will play host to East Carolina at 7 p.m. ... The men’s basketball CNU Invitational will begin with N.C. Wesleyan against Eastern University of Pennsylvania at 2 p.m., followed by CNU against Sarah Lawrence at 4.
