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The Sports Xchange

OVERVIEW

A Doug Christie (1992-2007) clone, Weaver's defensive game ranks with some of the best point guards in the nation. An unselfish player with a pass-first mentality, Weaver showed marked improvement in his perimeter game as a senior. He ranks second in school history with 465 assists, third with 188 steals, seventh with 93 blocked shots and tied for 11th with 569 rebounds.

A team captain at Beloit Memorial High under head coach Shane Bautch, Weaver started his last three years in the backcourt. He averaged 18.1 points during his senior year, leading the Knights to a runner-up finish in the Big Eight Conference and an appearance in the Division I State quarterfinals. He was named first-team All-State by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, adding All-Conference first-team and All-State second-team honors from the Associated Press.

In 2004-05, Weaver appeared in 25 games for the Washington State Cougars, including 10 starts. He was the first true freshman to start at point guard for WSU in a season opener since Blake Pengelly in 1996-97. For the season, he averaged 4.8 points per game, as he added 79 rebounds (3.2 rpg), 50 assists (2.0 apg), 15 steals and blocked nine shots.

As a sophomore, Weaver appeared in 27 games, including 25 starts. He led the team in assists (107) and ranked fifth in the Pac-10 Conference with 3.96 assists per game. He was best among Cougars with 39 steals and ranked eighth in the league with 1.44 steals per game and ninth in field goal percentage (48.3), as his 53.0 field goal percentage ranked second in conference play. He recorded 116 rebounds and 107 assists to make him the fourth player in Washington State history to have at least 100 in each category during the same season.

Weaver garnered All-Pac 10 Conference first-team honors as a junior. He started 33 of 34 games, adding NABC District XIII honors and was named the league's MVP by College Insider.com. He became the first player in Pac-10 history to have at least 300 points (382, 11.2 ppg), 125 rebounds (190, 5.6 rpg), 125 assists (157, 4.8 apg), 50 steals (74, 2.2 spg) and 35 blocks (40, 1.2 bpg) in the same season.

As a senior, Weaver was a first-team All-Pac 10 Conference pick, adding All-American Defensive Team recognition from CollegeInsider.com. He led WSU in steals with 60. He ranked second on the team in rebounding (184), scoring (12.4 ppg) and assists (151). He led the Cougars in steals 19 times, blocked shots 13 times, scoring seven times, assists 17 times, rebounding eight times and had 23 double-figure scoring games (including the final six games of the season) and three 20-plus point games (the only three of his career).

ANALYSIS

Positives: Tall, lanky shooting guard whose wingspan (81-inches) and second jump ability has helped him excel on the defensive end, finishing his career tied for 11th in rebounds (569) while ranking seventh in blocked shots (93) and third in steals (188) on the school's all-time record list ... Despite standing 6:06, he has very good agility, playing low in his stance and with a tight dribble to put the ball on the floor, where he is very capable of executing the post entry passes ... His ability to also play the point will make him a valuable asset in a rotation off the bench ... Has very good basketball IQ, rarely forcing the ball (takes what the defense allows) and is known for making solid decisions with the ball in his hands ... Knows how to use his length to finish at the basket when moving through traffic ... Fine ball handler who can push the ball to the side to force the defender to make his move and can quickly bounce it in the other direction and move towards the net before the opponent is able to recover and catch up to him ... With his court intelligence, he does a very good job on dish-and-drive situations, as he is very quick to get past traffic to take the ball to the hoop for the lay-up, pull up in the lane for the short jumper or pass it out to an open post player, or to a wide open teammate on the three-point arc ... Always looks for better shooting opportunities for his teammates, but has also started to develop more confidence in his long range shooting skills, hitting 36.4 percent of his three-pointers last year after making just 23.7 percent of those shots the previous season ... Has a good array of moves (hesitation, head and shoulder fakes) to take his man off the dribble ... Plays with a point guard's mentality, as creating his own shot is just an afterthought for him -- penetrating the lane or feeding the ball out to an open teammate on the perimeter are his main goals (has one of the better assist-to-turnover ratios of backcourt players in this draft (1.56/1 in 2007-08; 1.45/1 for his career) ... Needs to refine his shooting mechanics, but has been very good at pulling up and firing his jumper from 12-to-15 feet ... Shows good ball security and handle to dish the ball to an open outlet ... Very effective at achieving the crossover, as he has that quick feint that generally sees him suckering a defender into committing their forward momentum in that direction, and then quickly makes a lunge for free space to beat his man ... Has good court quickness when needed to push the ball on the fast break ... While he lacks explosion, he has very good body control slashing to the basket ... Can easily surprise a big forward with his initial step and shows good body control trying to generate space to get his shot off from mid range and the leg drive to draw contact driving into the lane ... Has improved his ability at the free throw line, demonstrating a high release (from the foul line, but needs to elevate his release shooting from the perimeter) and good elbow bend making his free throws ... Has a very good feel for the flow of the ball and uses his length, along with very active hands to cause lots of problems when trying to steal the ball when operating in the passing lanes ... Also very good at timing his leaps to block shots when playing on the perimeter.

Negatives: Might have to relegate to point guard duties, as he lacks the strength and needs to add much more bulk to his frail-looking frame. Defenders have had good success getting physical with him and he will be boxed out more often when trying to play around the basket due to his power issues ... Struggles to finish when working through traffic ... Gaining confidence in his perimeter shooting, but it is not good enough to be considered consistent ... Needs to improve his shooting mechanics, as his release point is very low, leading to more than a handful of his perimeter shots getting blocked ... His release is very unorthodox, as he tries to get off the perfect shot, leading to a lot of unnecessary motion and clutching ... Pushes the ball too hard trying to make his shot, at times, resulting in a turnover as the ball will simply get away from his grasp ... Relies a lot on his mid-range shooting, but struggles to finish shooting off the dribble and gets bounced around often when trying to use his weak inside game to get to the rim ... Almost unselfish to a fault and he should be creating better shooting opportunities for himself rather than looking to feed a teammate every time he gets the ball in the post ... Has a good mindset on help defense, but when isolated on a perimeter shooter, his lateral agility is adequate, but he does get fooled by the opponent's fakes and will bite early, getting caught out of position by the quicker slashers.

Compares To: DOUG CHRISTIE-ex-Sacramento ... Like Christie during his NBA career (1992-2007), Weaver is a solid defensive force who is very active disrupting the opponent in the passing lane. He has good ball handling skills and while he has the height you look for in a two-guard, his rail-thin frame and lack of strength and bulk will more likely make him an over-sized point guard in the NBA. He is starting to gain confidence in his long-range shooting, but needs to improve his shooting mechanics, as his low release point has led to the defense altering a fair share of his attempts. He is a deft passer with good court vision, always looking to create better shooting opportunities for others. He will push the ball too hard, at times, especially when trying to get through traffic, but somehow manages to generate the penetration needed to score under the basket.

CAREER NOTES

Weaver became the 29th player in school history to score more than 1,000 points in a career, ranking 17th on the all-time record list with 1,162 points (9.6 ppg) ... Shot 46.4 percent from the field, as his 402 field goals made (866 attempts) rank 18th on the WSU career record list ... His 315 free throws made (440 attempts) rank 12th in school annals ... Shot 27.7 percent from three-point range (43-of-155) ... Ranks second in school history with 465 assists, topped only by Bennie Seltzer (473, 1990-93) ... His 93 blocks rank seventh in WSU annals ... his 188 steals are the third-best total in school history, surpassed by Don Collins (204, 1977-80) and Keith Morrison (191, 1983-86) ... Weaver's 1,159 minutes played in 2007-08 rank second and his 1,152 minutes in 2006-07 rank third on the school single-season record list, topped by Taylor Rochestie (1,185, 2007-08) ... His 157 assists in 2006-07 rank third on the WSU annual record chart behind Dominic Ellison (192, 1994-95) and Rochestie (165, 2007-08) ... His 74 steals in 2006-07 rank second in school history, surpassed by Don Collins (76 in 1979-80) and his 60 thefts in 2007-08 tied Keith Morrison (1985-86) for fifth on the WSU single-season record list.

2007-08 SEASON

All-American Defensive Team first-team selection by CollegeInsider.com and earned second-team honors from Rivals.com ... All-American honorable mention by The NBA Draft Report and CollegeHoops.net ... All-Pac 10 Conference first-team and Defensive Team pick ... Added U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Men's All-District IX Team and National Association of Basketball Coaches District XIII first-team honors ... Weaver started all 35 games at combo guard, ranking second on the team in scoring with 426 points (12.2 ppg), as he made 46.3 percent of his shots from the field (138-of-298), 24-of-66 three-pointers (36.4 percent) and shot 73.3 percent from the free throw line (126-of-172) ... Led the team with 60 steals and ranked second on the squad with 151 assists ... Third on the team with 25 blocked shots and was second among the Cougars with an average of 5.3 rebounds per game (184 total) ... Led the team in steals 19 times, blocked shots 13 times, scoring seven times, rebounding eight times, assists 17 times and had 23 double-figure scoring games, along with three 20-plus point games (the only three of his career).

2006-07 SEASON

Appeared in all 34 games, including 33 starts...Named All-Pacific-10 Conference first-team, adding National Association of Basketball Coaches District XIII first-team and Collegeinsider.com Pacific-10 MVP honors...Became the first student-athlete in Pac-10 history to have at least 300 points, 125 rebounds, 125 assists, 50 steals and 35 blocks in the same season...Ranked in the Pac-10 in steals (second, 2.18 per game), assists (third, 4.62 per game), assist/turnover ratio (fourth, 1.69 per game), blocks (sixth, 1.18 per game), minutes (sixth, 33.88 per game) and rebounds (16th, 5.6 per game)...Led WSU in rebounds (190), assists (157) and steals (74)...Scored 382 points (11.2 ppg), making 133-of-273 field goals (48.7 percent), 23.7 percent of his three-point shots (9-of-38) and 77.0 percent of his free throws (107-of-139).

2005-06 SEASON

Appeared in 27 games, including 25 starts...Led the team in assists (107) and ranked fifth in the Pac-10 Conference with 3.96 assists per game...Topped the Cougars with 39 steals, ranking eighth in the league with 1.44 steals per game...Finished ninth in the Pac-10 in field goal percentage at 48.3 (85-of-176) and recorded 116 rebounds (4.3 rpg), along with 107 assists (4.0 apg) to make him the fourth player in Washington State history to have at least 100 in each category during the same season...scored 233 points, an average of 8.6 points per game.

2004-05 SEASON

Appeared in 25 games for the Cougars, including 10 starts...Became the first true freshman to start at point guard for WSU in a season opener since Blake Pengelly in 1996-97...Ranked sixth on the WSU all-time single-season record freshman list in assist/turnover ratio (1.06), assists average (eighth, 2.00 per game), and assists (T-eighth, 50) ... Scored 121 points (4.8 ppg), making 49-of-119 field goals (38.7 percent) and 27-of-49 free throws (55.1 percent), as he shot just 2-of-22 from three-point range ... Posted 79 rebounds with 50 assists, 15 steals and nine blocked shots.

INJURY REPORT

2005-06 Season: Suffered a left ankle sprain in the second half vs. California (2/23/06), missing the next game vs. Stanford (2/25).

HIGH SCHOOL

Attended Beloit (Wisc.) Memorial High School, playing basketball for head coach Shane Bautch...The team captain started his last three years in the backcourt ... Averaged 18.1 points during his senior year, leading the Knights to a runner-up finish in the Big Eight Conference and an appearance in the Division I State quarterfinals ... Named first-team All-State by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, adding All-Conference first-team and All-State second-team honors from the Associated Press.

PERSONAL

Sports Management major ... Worked at Helping Urban Beloit doing community service and has also officiated basketball games for the Boys and Girls Club...Son of Jean and LaMont Weaver ... Born Kyle D. Weaver on 2/18/86...Resides in Beloit, Wisconsin.