<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/thunder-news-jalen-williams-ajay-mitchell-explain-benefits-playing-3-years-college');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s ‘Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell explain benefits of playing 3 years in college');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jalen-Williams-Ajay-Mitchell-explain-benefits-of-playing-3-years-in-college.jpg"></figure><h1>Thunder’s ‘Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell explain benefits of playing 3 years in college</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-16T13:45:55-08:00">November 16th, 1:45pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-16T13:52:24-08:00">November 16th, 1:52pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Ajay Mitchell spent three years at UC Santa Barbara, earning Big West Player of the Year honors in 2023 before the Thunder selected him with the No. 38 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Alongside his teammate Jalen Williams, who spent three years at Santa Clara before entering the league, a reporter asked the two about the benefits of taking the long road after the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-dishes-jalen-williams-continued-growth">Thunder’s 99-83 win over the Phoenix Suns</a>.</p><p>Many prospects choose the one-and-done route, whether overseas or at a four-year university. However, Mitchell, the Thunder’s second-round pick, broke through head coach Mark Daigneault’s rotation in 2024-25, perhaps a byproduct of Ajay’s extended collegiate career.</p><p>“It’s just a lot more experience. For me, having three years of college, I feel like, every year I got better, and every year I was kind of preparing myself to be ready to play right away in the NBA,” Mitchell said. “So, I think it really just helped me to learn the game more and be ready to compete at the highest level.”</p><p>For Williams, the Thunder’s 12th overall pick in 2022, the extra time spent at Santa Clara gave Jalen a better sense of approaching the sport from an Xs and Os standpoint.</p><p>“I think every year I just got better throughout that. I think college teaches you how to play basketball in general,” Williams said. “You learn a lot of the Xs and Os just cause the rules are kind of different than the NBA. So, when you get to the NBA, you have a lot more freedom to go out. There’s a lot more space. You’re playing with more talented players.”</p><h2><b>Jalen Williams’ impressive start for 2024-25 Thunder</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-Thunder-forward-Jalen-Williams.jpg"></figure><p>Oklahoma City Thunder forward <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-dishes-jalen-williams-continued-growth">Jalen Williams is having an impressive season</a> thus far. Alongside All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams is playing at an elite level for the Western Conference’s best 11-2 Thunder. However, after Friday’s win, Jalen credited Oklahoma City’s organization for seamlessly transitioning from college to the pros.</p><p>“You just kind of learn the game. Then, when you get into a system like this that encourages growth and development, Mark [Daigneault] just throws you out there,” Williams said. “Sometimes to mess up and kind of gives you grace with that to learn and play through mistakes. I think that’s kind of like speeds up our process of learning and getting better as players.”</p><p>Williams is averaging 20.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game for the Thunder this season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
5.7	1.9	1.7	0.1	0.8

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
5.7	1.9	1.7	0.1	0.8

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Thunder’s ‘Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell explain benefits of playing 3 years in college

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