Darren Collison

Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American professional basketball point guard for the Indiana Pacers. He was drafted 21st overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by New Orleans. He is a right-hander and a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Collison was widely considered to be one of the top point guard prospects in the 2009 NBA Draft coming out of UCLA.

He was awarded the MVP of the Maui Invitational Tournament in December 2006 and was named the Pacific 10 Conference Player of the Week on December 4, 2006, and again on February 18, 2007. His parents Dennis and June (Griffith) were both elite track and field athletes for Guyana.

Collison grew up as a fan of the University of Arizona, but was not recruited by Arizona. He chose UCLA over San Diego State University to serve as a backup to Jordan Farmar in the 2005–06 season. Collison became the starting point guard the following season.

College career

During the 2006–07 season, Collison averaged 2.2 steals per game—the most in the Pacific 10 Conference. Collison returned to UCLA for his junior and senior years and ended up playing in a total of 142 games at UCLA, tied for the most...
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