#30 Billy Owens
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6'8" 230 lbs Forward
HS: Carlisle Carlisle, PA
Born: 5/1/1969 Carlisle, PA
Season Stats
Season Cl Pos G GS Min FG FGA % FT FTA % 3Pt 3PA % Asst Reb Fls DQ TO ST BS Pts PPG APG RPG
1988-89 Fr F 38 38 1215 196 376 52.1% 94 145 64.8% 8 36 22.2% 119 263 110 2 76 64 35 494
13.0
3.1
6.9
1989-90 So F 33 33 1188 228 469 48.6% 127 176 72.2% 19 60 31.7% 151 276 99 6 79 74 25 602
18.2
4.6
8.4
1990-91 Jr F 32 32 1215 282 554 50.9% 157 233 67.4% 23 59 39.0% 111 371 86 0 113 78 37 744
23.2
3.5
11.6
Career    
103
103
3618
706
1399
50.5%
378
554
68.2%
50
155
32.3%
381
910
295
8
268
216
97
1840
17.9
3.7
8.8

Billy Owens was a versatile power forward, the type of player who could carry a team on his back for a series of games. He had the size, strength, and ball handling abilities to do it all. Owens could bring the ball up the court, set up a teammate, pull down the rebound, post up down low and shoot from outside.

Billy Owens Syracuse Orangemen BasketballOwens was one of the most highly recruited high school players in the country, having led Carlisle High School to three straight Pennsylvania state championships. He came to Syracuse following his brother Michael who was a star running back on the football team. As a freshman at Syracuse, he joined a team loaded with veteran talent, yet he immediately started. Owens showed a commitment to teamwork, deferring to the upper classmen, yet still managing to score 13 points a game. He made his presence particularly memorable in the big Georgetown rivalry game, where he was fouled as time expired and Syracuse down by two points. Owens calmly went to the free throw line, made both, and Syracuse won in overtime before (what was then) a record NCAA crowd.

Owens shared the rebounding responsibilities with Derrick Coleman his first two years. After Coleman and Stephen Thompson graduated in 1990, Owens finally became the focus of the Syracuse offense. And did he ever deliver.

Owens became the first player under coach Jim Boeheim to score 20+ points per game (easily eclipsing that mark at 23.2 ppg). He scored 30+ points 8 times, and 10 times he had 15 or more rebounds in a game. He lead Syracuse to a 26-4 regular season record, reaching #6 in the country. For much of the season he carried the team on his shoulders, as the team had an inexperienced backcourt.

A funny thing happened in the post season. Syracuse shockingly lost to Villanova in the first round of the Big East Tournament (though Owens had a big game with 22 rebounds). Then, in the NCAA tournament, as a #2 seed, Syracuse was upset by the Richmond Spiders, in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.

Owens was on the Big East first team his sophomore and junior seasons, and was a first team All American and the Big East Player of the Year his junior season.

Owens, having accomplished all he could in terms of skill development (though having never accomplished significant success with NCAA tournament wins) decided to forego his senior season and go to the NBA. Owens was the 3rd pick in the 1991 draft, taken by the Sacramento Kings. He would be traded in November to Golden State for Mitch Richmond, Les Jepsen and a 1995 2nd round draft pick.

Owens would have a solid NBA career, though not a spectacular one due to reoccurring knee injuries. He would play ten seasons, with Golden State, Sacramento, Miami, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Detroit. In 1994 he would be traded by Golden State to Miami for former Orangemen Rony Seikaly.

NBA Career Statistics
Season Team Pos G Min FG FGA % FT FTA % 3P 3PA % Asst Reb Fls DQ TO ST BS Pts PPG APG RPG
1991-92
Golden State
F
80
2,510
468
891
52.5%
204
312
65.4%
1
9
11.1%
188
639
276
179
90
65
1,141
14.3
2.4 8.0
1992-93
Golden State
F
37
1,201
247
493
50.1%
117
183
63.9%
1
11
9.1%
144
264
105
106
35
28
612
16.5
3.9 7.1
1993-94
Golden State
F
79
2,738
492
971
50.7%
199
326
61.0%
3
15
20.0%
325
640
269
214
83
60
1,186
15.0
4.1 8.1
1994-95
Miami
G
70
2,296
403
820
49.1%
194
313
62.0%
2
22
9.1%
246
502
205
204
80
30
1,002
14.3
3.5 7.2
1995-96
Miami/Sac
F
62
1,982
323
673
48.0%
157
247
63.6%
5
18
27.8%
204
411
192
164
49
38
808
13.0
3.3 6.6
1996-97
Sacramento
F
66
1,995
299
640
46.7%
101
145
69.7%
25
72
34.7%
187
392
187
133
62
25
724
11.0
2.8 5.9
1997-98
Sacramento
F
78
2,348
338
728
46.4%
116
197
58.9%
26
70
37.1%
219
582
231
153
93
38
818
10.5
2.8 7.5
1998-99
Seattle
F
21
451
65
165
39.4%
28
35
80.0%
5
11
45.5%
80
45
37
33
12
4
163
7.8
1.8 3.8
1999-00
Philadelphia/GS
F
62
1,305
150
358
41.9%
63
106
59.4%
11
34
32.4%
301
202
166
85
33
21
374
6.0
1.6 4.9
2000-01
Detroit
F
45
793
88
230
38.3%
19
40
47.5%
3
20
15.0%
55
205
93
39
32
12
198
4.4
1.2 4.6
Total   F
600
17,610
2,873
5,968
48.1%
1,198
1,904
62.9%
82
282
29.1%
1,704
4,016
1,760
0
1,310
566
321
7,026
11.7
2.8
6.7

Owens was named to the Syracuse All-Century team in 2000. He had his uniform retired by Syracuse in 2008.

Owens son Chaz was a preferred walk-on for the Syracuse basketball team.

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