Basketbulls in the Pros: Xavier Ford Update

After a very successful senior season which ended with a bid to the NCAA Tournament, Xavier Ford didn't want to end his basketball career. In late October it was announced that Ford signed a contract with the Grand Rapids Drive. Grand Rapids is the development team for the Detroit Pistons. This is a chance that many former UB players would jump at and Ford looks like he's playing his hardest to get better.

Ford is currently a role player for the Drive and mostly plays about eight minutes in the second quarter. He's averaging 1.5 points per game off of only 31% shooting. His defense has looked good in the minutes that he's played, the problem is his offensive game. It seems that he's having trouble getting shots to fall against players that are a lot more talented than what he faced in the MAC. I watched him play in his game with the Iowa Energy and it seemed he was doing well with helping the ball move around which is a good thing to see from a Forward who has NBA aspirations. Ford finished that game with 5 points, his highest to date in the D-League.

Xavier is back in action on Thursday, December 10th when Grand Rapids takes on the Westchester Knicks at 7:00 PM. All NBA D-League games are streamed via their youtube channel so be sure to tune in to see a familiar face and cheer on a UB alum that continues to prove that you can do anything if you believe in it.