Chaz Calvaron Williams (born April 6, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Njarðvík of the Úrvalsdeild karla. He played college basketball for University of Massachusetts (UMass) and was considered one of the top

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

s in the nation for the 2013–14 season.

College career

Williams was a two-time conference player of the year at Bishop Ford High School in Brooklyn, New York. He committed to nearby

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

and moved quickly into the starting lineup. He averaged 9.8 points and 4.2 assists per game and was named to the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

All-Freshman team. Following an offseason which saw head coach

Tom Pecora Tom Pecora (born January 21, 1958) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at Quinnipiac. Pecora was originally hired as associate head coach at Quinnipiac on March 28, 2017, under new head coach Baker Dunleavy. P ...

leave Hofstra, Williams transferred to

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

. After sitting out the 2010–11 season as a transfer, Williams led the Minutemen to a 25 win season in 2011–12. He averaged 16.9

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

, 6.2 assists, 2.2 steals and 4.4

rebounds per game 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and was named first team All-

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

. As a junior, he repeated on the All-Atlantic 10 team after averaging 15.5 and 7.3 assists per game. However, UMass failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. Throughout his UMass career, Williams helped the Minutemen defeat some national ranked teams. This included beating VCU, Dayton, and

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. In the offseason, Williams considered declaring for the 2013 NBA draft. After reviewing information gathered by his coach

Derek Kellogg Derek William Kellogg (born June 20, 1973) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for UMass. Kellogg previously served as head coach of the Minutemen, his alma mater, being named to the position on Apri ...

indicating he would likely be a second round pick, he decided to return for his final season and try to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time. At the beginning of his senior season, Williams was named to the watch lists for the Naismith Player of the Year Award, the Bob Cousy Award for best point guard in the nation and was a preseason All-Atlantic 10 pick. On February 13, 2014, he was named one of the 30 finalists for Naismith College Player of the Year. He led UMass to a #6 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament and is ranked 23rd all-time in career assists in NCAA history.

Professional career

Following graduation, Williams went undrafted in the

2014 NBA draft The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

. On August 9, 2014, he signed with Olin Edirne of the Turkish Basketball League. He parted ways with Olin on November 14, 2014 after appearing in just five games. On February 20, 2015, he was acquired by the Maine Red Claws of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. On March 8, he was waived by the Red Claws after appearing in just three games. On March 20 he was acquired by the Delaware 87ers. On July 2, 2017 he signed with Korihait of the Finnish Korisliiga. He left the club on November 23, 2017. In 11 games, Williams averaged 12.6 points and 3.8 assists per game. On January 24, 2018, Williams signed with Þór Þorlákshöfn of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla. In 8 games he averaged 15.8 points, 4.8 assists and 2.9 steals per game. In February 2019, Williams signed with Wilki Morskie Szczecin of the Polish Basketball League. On November 6, 2019, Williams returned to Iceland and signed with Njarðvík where he met his old coach from Þór Þorlákshöfn,

Einar Árni Jóhannsson Einar Árni Jóhannsson (born 8 January 1977) is an Icelandic basketball coach. He won the Icelandic men's championship in 1998 with Njarðvík as an assistant to Friðrik Ingi Rúnarsson, and in 2006 as Njarðvík's head coach. He won the Icela ...

. For the first four games, he came of the bench and split his playing time with fellow American Wayne Martin Jr. Due to his performance, Njarðvík allowed Martin to sign with Jämtland Basket in Sweden and moved Williams to the starting lineup. On January 16, 2020, he scored a season high 36 point against Reykjanesbær rivals Keflavík. Williams averaged 20 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. On August 22, he signed with Pelister of the

Macedonian First League The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbalska Liga''), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competitio ...

. Williams averaged 19.4 points, 7.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. On January 6, 2022, he signed with AMSB of the LNB Pro B. In May 2023, Williams returned to Iceland and signed back with Njarðvík.

References

External links