Slam Magazine Spotlights Whitman's David Michaels

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- As Slam Magazine crafted its 10-part web documentary on this spring's Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT), Whitman College basketball standout David Michaels was one of the relatively few players who found himself in the spotlight.

Michaels, a 6-foot-7 wing who graduated from Whitman in May, is featured in part seven of UNDRAFTED, a documentary series on college players in pursuit of their NBA dreams.

To view the Michaels segment, which came online Tuesday, please click here.

Eight episodes have debuted online thus far and can be viewed here.

David Michaels

Michaels, the reigning Northwest Conference Player of the Year, was one of just 64 top seniors from the around country invited earlier this spring to the 60th Annual PIT, which stands as basketball's oldest scouting combine.

Michaels was the first NCAA Division III player in nearly a decade to snare a PIT invitation, which gives players the chance to showcase their skills before scouts from all 30 NBA teams and more than 100 professional teams in foreign countries.

The tournament, which divides players into eight teams, takes place each April in Portsmouth, Va. About 60 PIT alumni are currently on NBA rosters, and dozens more continue to play in top leagues in Europe and elsewhere around the globe.

Players who launched NBA careers at the PIT range from John Stockton and Scottie Pippen to Derek Fisher and Jeremy Lin.

The versatile Michaels took the NWC by storm last winter during one of the finest senior seasons ever witnessed at Whitman. Scoring with uncanny efficiency from everywhere on the floor, he averaged 20 points while averaging less than 11 field goal attempts and 27 minutes on the floor.

He shot shot 55 percent from the floor overall and 78.8 percent from the free throw line. He was Whitman’s leading rebounder, hauling down 6.0 rebounds per contest, and he led the team in steals and blocks and was third in assists.

Michaels scored 30 or more points four times during his senior season. That included a career-high 40-point explosion against George Fox that saw Michaels score an incredible 22 consecutive points at one stage of the game.

In late January Michaels became the first-ever Whitman player to be named to a National Team of the Week selected by the D3hoops.com website. A four-time NWC Player of the Week, he capped his senior campaign by becoming the first Whitman player in more than two decades to be named NWC Player of the Year.

That was just the start of his post-season awards, however.

He also became the first Whitman player to earn first-team all-region honors from both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and D3hoops.com. Later, he also received All-American recognition (D3hoops.com) and participated in the NABC All-Star Game, which was held in mid-March in conjunction with the NCAA DIII Final Four weekend in Salem, Va.

Michaels majored in psychology at Whitman and plans to pursue post-graduate studies in that field at some point. For now, however, he continues to mull various pro playing opportunities here in the U.S. and abroad.

He capped his time at Whitman by receiving the first-ever Award for Distinguished Achievement from Whitman President George Bridges, who noted that Michaels made a conscious effort midway through his junior year to raise his level of performance in both the classroom and on the court.

"I have taught student athletes for nearly 30 years as a professor, dean and now president and never have I witnessed such a clearly evident turning point in a student's life," Bridges said. "His conscious commitment to making significant steps in his academic and athletic performance -- and then achieving them beyond anyone's expectations -- is inspiring."

Michaels, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., moved in 1999 to Las Vegas, Nev., where he graduated from Valley High School. He is the son of Sandra Michaels.

CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu