Anything you start, you should want to finish, especially your education. I'm grateful for what I had here, for what I have here. ... I'm happy to say I am Weber State. – Damian Lillard
OGDEN — Damian Lillard has piled up some mighty impressive accomplishments in his young lifetime.
After all, the Portland Trail Blazers' stellar point guard was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2013, only the fourth player in league history to be selected for the award unanimously.
Lillard was also an NBA All-Star in 2014 and '15 and, before that, the former Weber State standout was chosen Big Sky Conference Player of the Year in 2010 and '12 and was a three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection (2009, 2010 and 2012) and the league's Freshman of the Year in 2009.
Now, he can add another proud accomplishment to his résumé: Weber State University graduate, 2015.
As a member of the school's largest graduating class ever (5,337), Lillard received his bachelor's degree in professional sales from WSU's College of Applied Science & Technology in ceremonies held Friday morning at the Dee Events Center.
The 24-year-old Lillard, who in his short speech to the entire Class of 2015 said he chose to come to Weber State in 2008 as a 17-year-old kid from Oakland, California, because the school and community represented the kind of values he strived to have in his life, and admitted that earning his degree from WSU "was one of the more challenging things, I think, in my entire life.
"I've always been into sports, and I've always been willing to take the challenge as an athlete," he said at a press conference. "But when I came to campus, I wasn't a perfect student and Coach (Randy) Rahe and a lot of the coaching staff, they challenged me.
"A lot of the things that I did in the classroom wasn't good, and they made me a better student. A lot of times, they would show up to the class before I got there to make sure I was on time. And I think just having people in your corner like that who hold you to that type of standard, it makes you better.
"The ultimate goal was to get a scholarship through basketball and further my education," he said. "When I came to the campus, we sat down with Coach Rahe and he told my mom that if I wasn't going to be committed to being a student first and being a good person then I wouldn't fit in the program and I wouldn't last here."
Well, he fit in just fine, obviously. And seven years later, after completing the final three classes he needed to graduate, he got to don a cap and gown, take that glorious walk and receive his college diploma.
"Anything you start, you should want to finish, especially your education," Lillard said. "I'm grateful for what I had here, for what I have here. ... I'm happy to say I am Weber State."
So where does earning a college degree rank on his growing list of glowing achievements?
"It's right up there at the top," Lillard said. "It's definitely one of the better moments of my life."
His mother, Gina Johnson, flew in for Friday's graduation ceremony after watching Lillard and his Trail Blazers' teammates get eliminated from the NBA playoffs by the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
She was so proud of her son's determination to see things through and finish the requirements necessary for him to earn a degree, which likely wouldn't have ever happened without constant encouragement from her.
"It's the best Mother's Day gift you could ever get," she said. "I know he's an NBA star ... but it's most important for me to (get that) degree. ... I wanted him to get a degree and I wanted him to go to college. So this is the big prize, this is the goal at the end of the rainbow.
"I wanted them to win when they were playing the Grizzlies, but I was more focused on him getting here to this graduation. ... I'm so proud of him. I can't really explain how proud I am of him because he's just a go-getter. He even pushes me; even though I push him, he pushes me in a whole lot of different ways.
"I'm just happy that he's here, I'm happy that he's able to get his degree, I'm happy he completed it because it was very important," Johnson said. "It was what he was here for."
Lillard, who serves as a national ambassador for Special Olympics and is deeply involved in an anti-bullying campaign, was also determined to attend Friday's ceremony so he could offer sincere gratitude for all those people — coaches, teammates, trainers, professors, classmates and friends — who helped him along his way at Weber State.
Lillard wasn't the only one who expressed gratitude on Friday, though, as WSU President Charles A. Wight told Lillard, ''You are a true ambassador of Weber State."
And although Lillard averaged an NBA career-best 21 points, 6.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds (also a career-high) this past season, superb statistics to be sure, Coach Rahe said it's Damian the person that the Wildcats' coach is most proud of.
"I've said this a lot," Rahe said. "Damian's a helluva basketball player, but he's a lot better person. And to me, I'm more proud of that fact than of all his accomplishments in basketball. The kind of person he is, the integrity, the character that he's made of. A lot of that has to do with Gina and how he was brought up, and Houston, his father.
"This is a proud moment, and I never doubted that he'd get it done because when he starts something, he's gonna finish it. There's no question in my mind, and that's just who he is, it's in his DNA. I'm just really, really proud and love him to death, we all do. But I'm really proud of him as much off the court as we ever have been on the court."
EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com