Devin Williams (basketball)

Devin Williams (born May 31, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the TaiwanBeer Leopards of the T1 League. He played college basketball at West Virginia.

Devin Williams
Williams with Bahçeşehir Koleji in 2021
No. 41 – TaiwanBeer Leopards
PositionPower forward
LeagueT1 League
Personal information
Born (1994-05-31) May 31, 1994
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight270 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeWest Virginia (2013–2016)
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2017Melbourne United
2017Greensboro Swarm
2017–2018Maine Red Claws
2018Vaqueros de Bayamón
2018–2019Büyükçekmece
2019Budućnost
2019–2020Tofaş
2020Goyang Orion Orions
2021Bahçeşehir Koleji
2021–2022Vaqueros de Bayamón
2022–2023Jiangsu Dragons
2023–presentTaiwanBeer Leopards
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career
Williams with Monteverde Academy in 2012

Williams first attended Withrow High School in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. As a sophomore in 2010–11, he averaged 13.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game for the school's basketball team.[1] As a junior at Withrow in 2011–12, he averaged 15.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and earned All-Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference First Team honors.[1]

In 2012, Williams transferred to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida for his senior year. In April 2013, he helped Montverde rally from a 16-point deficit to beat Saint Benedict's Preparatory School 67–65 in the final of the High School National Tournament.[2] On a roster full of Division I recruits, Williams was first-team all-state for independent players.[3]

College career

Freshman year

As a freshman at West Virginia in 2013–14, Williams started 31 of 33 games, averaging 23.3 minutes per game. He shot 41.1 percent from the field and averaged 8.4 points per game while leading the team in rebounds with 7.2 per game. He was subsequently named to the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team. He posted eight double-doubles and had nine double-figure rebounding performances throughout the season. His eight double-doubles are the third most all-time by a WVU freshman, and he tied for the most double-doubles by a Big 12 Conference freshman with Kansas' Joel Embiid. Williams' 238 rebounds were the fourth most all-time by a WVU freshman, as he finished seventh in the Big 12 Conference in rebounds per game.[1] On March 8, 2014, he scored a season-high 22 points and tied his season high for rebounds with 13 in a 92–86 win over Kansas.[4][5]

Sophomore year

As a sophomore in 2014–15, Williams played in 34 games for the Mountaineers, starting all 34 of those contests, and averaged 24.9 minutes per game. He registered 11.6 points and led WVU in rebounding with 8.1 boards per game. He was 15th in the Big 12 Conference in scoring and third in rebounding, and had the second-most double-doubles in the Big 12 with nine. He subsequently earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.[1] On March 7, 2015, he tied his career-best performance with 22 points and 13 rebounds in an 81–72 win over Oklahoma State.[6]

Junior year

As a junior in 2015–16, Williams started 34 of 35 games for the Mountaineers, averaging 25.4 minutes per game. He averaged career highs in points (13.3), rebounds (9.5) and assists (1.4), and subsequently earned second-team All-Big 12,[7] USBWA All-District II Team and NABC All-District 8 second team honors. Williams also earned Big 12 All-Tournament Team honors after recording 31 points and 10 rebounds in the Big 12 Tournament championship game, a game West Virginia lost 81–71 to Kansas.[8] The point total was a career best and it marked his 15th double-double of the season, the most of any Big 12 player.[9] He became just the 11th player in West Virginia program history to record 1,000 points and 800 rebounds.[10]

On March 29, 2016, Williams declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.[11] He subsequently signed with an agent in April but was not invited to the NBA combine. He later admitted he "received some bad advice" regarding the draft.[12]

Professional career

Melbourne United (2016–17)

After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Williams joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2016 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.[13] In five games for the Bucks, he averaged 2.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game.[10]

On August 9, 2016, Williams signed with Melbourne United for the 2016–17 NBL season.[14] Williams struggled to make an impact for United off the bench over the first month of the season, which led to speculation of him being released by the club.[15] That was not to be, and on November 6, he had a season-best game with 13 points and seven rebounds in an 82–73 loss to the Illawarra Hawks.[16] His next best game came on December 11, as he had a 6-point, 10-rebound effort in an 88–81 win over the Sydney Kings.[17] In the following game however on December 17, Williams went down with a knee injury early in United's 100–90 loss to the Brisbane Bullets,[18] and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks with a Grade 2 medial ligament strain.[19] On January 31, 2017, after fully recovering, Williams was granted a release from his contract to source opportunities to play in the US.[20]

Greensboro Swarm (2017)

On February 14, 2017, he was acquired by the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA Development League.[21]

Maine Red Claws (2017–18)

In June 2017, Williams joined the Charlotte Hornets for the 2017 NBA Summer League.[22] On September 26, 2017, he signed with the Boston Celtics for training camp.[23] He was waived by the Celtics on October 5, 2017.[24]

Vaqueros de Bayamón (2018)

On April 25, 2018, Vaqueros de Bayamón of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional was reported to have signed Williams.[25]

Büyükçekmece (2018–2019)

On July 13, 2018, he has signed with Büyükçekmece of the Basketball Super League (BSL). [26]

KK Budućnost (2019)

On February 14, 2019, Williams signed with Budućnost of the Montenegrin League.[27]

Tofaş (2019–2020)

On July 2, 2019, he has signed with Tofaş of the Turkish Basketball Super League.[28] Williams averaged 15.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.[29]

Jiangsu Dragons (2020)

On September 16, 2020, Williams signed with Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association.[29]

Bahçeşehir Koleji (2021)

On July 7, 2021, Williams signed with Bahçeşehir Koleji of the Basketbol Süper Ligi, (BSL).[30] He played three games and averaged 2.3 points per game.[31]

Return to Vaqueros de Bayamón (2022)

On January 22, 2022, Williams signed with Unicaja Málaga of the Spanish Liga ACB.[31] On January 27, 2022, Unicaja Malaga has announced that Devin Williams has failed his medicals and therefore the agreement between the parts has been voided. [32]

On February 21, 2022, Williams signed with Vaqueros de Bayamón.[33]

TaiwanBeer Leopards (2023–present)

On October 7, 2023, Williams has signed with TaiwanBeer Leopards of the T1 League.[34]

Personal life

Williams is the son of Angela Williams, and had two older brothers. Donshae Williams, the youngest of Williams' two older brothers, was shot and killed in Cincinnati in August 2011, just before Williams started his junior year at Withrow High. In December 2015, Williams said of the incident, "Just a bad night. Wrong place, wrong time. It's sad, but that's how my city is. That's how my city is going. I just use it for motivation to get my nephew out of there and make it better for him and the whole family."[3]

References
  1. "Devin Williams Bio". WVUSports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  2. Bernstein, Jason (April 6, 2013). "Boys basketball: St. Benedict's falls to Montverde, 67-65, in final of ESPN National High School Invitational". NJ.com. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  3. Casazza, Mike (December 23, 2015). "Mike Casazza: New number, new roommate and a new Devin Williams". wvgazettemail.com. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  4. "West Virginia overcomes Andrew Wiggins' 41 points to stun Kansas". ESPN.com. March 8, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  5. Coyle, Geoff (March 10, 2014). "Devin Williams Finds Rhythm in Kansas Win". wvillustrated.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  6. "No. 20 West Virginia beats Oklahoma State 81-72". ESPN.com. March 7, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  7. "Nation's Best Lead All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards". big12sports.com. March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  8. "No. 1 Kansas overcomes No. 9 West Virginia to capture Big 12 title". ESPN.com. March 12, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  9. Kerkhoff, Blair (March 12, 2016). "KU's Devonte' Graham leads Big 12 All-Tournament team". KansasCity.com. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  10. "DEVIN WILLIAMS (#41)". NBA.com. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  11. Messerly, Bryan (March 29, 2016). "Williams to Enter NBA Draft". WVUSports.com. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  12. Taylor, Allan (June 25, 2016). "Devin Williams signs NBA rookie deal with Bucks". wvmetronews.com. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  13. "BUCKS ANNOUNCE 2016 SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER". NBA.com. July 5, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  14. "MELBOURNE SIGNS FINAL ROSTER SPOT, DEVIN WILLIAMS". MelbourneUtd.com.au. August 9, 2016. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  15. Nagy, Boti (October 28, 2016). "Melbourne United strongly denies rampant 'NBL import sacking' rumours". AdelaideNow.com.au. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  16. "Hawks vs United". FIBALiveStats.com. November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  17. "Kings vs United". FIBALiveStats.com. December 11, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  18. Ward, Roy (December 20, 2016). "Undersized Melbourne United wait on Devin Williams knee injury". SMH.com.au. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  19. "INJURY UPDATE: DEVIN WILLIAMS". MelbourneUtd.com.au. December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  20. "ROSTER UPDATE: JOSH BOONE TO REMAIN WITH THE CLUB". MelbourneUtd.com.au. January 31, 2017. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  21. "2016-2017 Greensboro Swarm Transactions History". RealGM.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  22. "2017 Orlando Pro Summer League Preview". NBA.com. June 29, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  23. "Celtics Finalize Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  24. "Devin Williams: Waived by Celtics". cbssports.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  25. "Devin Williams inks with Vaqueros de Bayamon". Sportando.basketball. April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  26. "Büyükçekmece'den Devin Williams Hamlesi!" (in Turkish). Eurohoops. July 13, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  27. "NOVO POJAČANJE: DEVIN JAVAR WILLIAMS". kkbuducnost.me. April 25, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  28. Carchia, Emiliano (July 2, 2019). "Tofas signs Devin Williams". Sportando. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  29. "Jiangsu Dragons add Williams to their roster". Asiabasket. September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  30. "Devin Williams Bahçeşehir Koleji'nde". bahcesehirsporkulubu.org (in Turkish). July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  31. "Unicaja adds Williams to their roster, ex Bahcesehir". Eurobasket. January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  32. Borghesan, Ennio Terrasi (January 27, 2022). "Devin Williams fails medical with Unicaja Malaga who voids the agreement". Sportando. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  33. Modestti, Luis (February 21, 2022). "Williams comes back to Bayamon, ex Unicaja". Eurobasket. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  34. "雲豹第4洋將現蹤！前CBA江蘇隊主力前鋒威廉斯帶槍加盟". ETtoday. October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
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