High school career

Cauley-Stein attended Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kansas, where he played basketball and football. As a junior he averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Cauley-Stein was listed as the No. 9 center and the No. 40 player in the nation in 2012.

College career

Freshman season

Cauley-Stein started out his college career as a bench center, backing up top prospect Nerlens Noel. During his time as a back-up, Cauley-Stein ended up averaging 7.8 points on 63.9% field goal shooting, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 steals in 20 games of play.

Cauley-Stein earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors twice (1/7, 2/25). Cauley-Stein's season-high came against Vanderbilt as he posted 20 points to go with 7 rebounds. In a couple weeks prior, he was a perfect 5-5 from the field against Auburn.

On February 12, 2013, in a game against the Florida Gators, Noel tore the ACL in his left knee after blocking a Florida lay-up, forcing him to sit out the remainder of the season. Cauley-Stein was given the starting center position due to Noel's season-ending injury. In Noel's absence, he recorded three double-doubles in six games including 10 points and 11 rebounds against Georgia and 13 points, 10 rebounds to go with four blocks at Arkansas.

After SEC play ended he was named to the All-SEC Freshman team. At the end of the season he averaged 8.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game after appearing in 29 games while making 14 starts.

Sophomore season

During the 2013-14 season, he appeared in 37 games, making 18 starts while averaging 6.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. His tallied 106 blocks for the season is a total that ranks as the second-most in a single season in school history.

His terrific sophomore season led to him being named to the All-SEC Defensive Team. He recorded a career-high nine blocks twice during the season against Providence and Boise State. He really started coming into his own towards the end of the season. In the SEC Tournament, he recorded 10 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks vs. #1 Florida in the SEC Championship game.

Due to an injury to his leg suffered during the 2014 NCAA Tournament in a game against Louisville, Cauley-Stein missed the remainder of the season. He decided to return for his junior season due to his injury; he was a projected top-15 pick in the 2014 NBA draft prior to his injury.

Junior season

In 2014-15, Cauley-Stein was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He was also selected to the All-SEC First Team, the All-SEC Defensive Team and the USA Today first team All-American Team.

On April 9, 2015, Cauley-Stein along with Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, and Karl-Anthony Towns all declared to enter their names into the NBA draft.

Professional career

Sacramento Kings (2015-present)

On June 25, 2015, Cauley-Stein was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. On July 16, 2015, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Kings. He made his debut for the Kings in the team's season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers on October 28, recording 2 points and 2 rebounds in a 111-104 loss. The following game, on October 30 against the Los Angeles Lakers, he had a season-best game with 17 points and 9 rebounds as a starter. On December 3, he was ruled out for four to six weeks after sustaining an open dislocation of his right index finger earlier that night against the Boston Celtics. He returned to action on January 2, 2016 against the Phoenix Suns, playing out the game's final five minutes. On January 21, he recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in a 91-88 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On March 25, he scored a career-high 26 points in a 116-94 win over the Phoenix Suns. At the season's end, he earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015-16	Sacramento	66	39	21.4	.563	.000	.648	5.3	.6	.7	1.0	7.0
Career		66	39	21.4	.563	.000	.648	5.3	.6	.7	1.0	7.0

Personal life

On May 1, 2015, Willie officially filed a name-change order with the Probate Division of the Fayette District Court to change his birth name. He did it to honor his mother, Marlene Stein, and her family, who raised him after his father left him at a young age. He also added "Trill" as a middle name, a nickname given to him by friends.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]