Former Razorback forward Jaylin Williams (#10) from Ft. Smith, AR backs into the paint against Missouri at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.

By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams entered the 2022 NBA Draft following his sophomore season and on Thursday night he was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the No. 34-overall pick in the second round.

Williams is a 6-foot-10 forward who played a key role in Arkansas' back-to-back Elite 8 appearances. NBADraft.net had him rated the highest at No. 24 in the Top 100 while most others him between 35 and 52.

For Williams, being picked at No. 34 was something no one would have predicted prior to the season. In 2020-21 out of Fort Smith Northside, Williams played in 26 games with five starts. He averaged 3.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

However, in 2021-22, Williams played in 37 games with 35 starts. He averaged 10.9 points and 9.8 rebounds and showed off his passing skills dishing out 95 assists and leading the team with 41 blocked shots. He was excellent taking charges as well.

Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman had predicted Williams would go higher than many of the services were projecting.

"We've fielded a lot of calls over the course of since he's put his name into the draft," Musselman said recently. "I'm not going to say the name, but there was a general manager of an organization that called yesterday and it was the first really extended conversation about where did we hear he was going to go. There was actually two teams that had talked about possibly moving up in the draft, so yesterday were the two most significant phone calls I have personally received about Jaylin. They were real phone calls. They were not from scouts. They were not from people who don't live in the city where the team plays. They were decision makers. I think that's good when that starts happening."

Williams had worked out for several teams during the pre-draft process. Among them were Milwaukee just two days before the draft, San Antonio, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto, Dallas and Phoenix.

He's the fourth Razorback to be drafted in the past four drafts. Daniel Gafford (2019), Isaiah Joe (2020) and Moses Moody (21).