Harper Terry Williams (born May 25, 1971) is a retired American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and a former administrative assistant on the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

coaching staff. He played professionally for 17 years, including ten in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

's Liga ACB.

College and early life

Williams, a 6'8"

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

from Bridgeport, Connecticut, led

Bassick High School Bassick High School is a US public trade high school located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. History In 1924, the Bassick family home was demolished to begin construction for a school. The E & F Construction Company was awarded the contract after s ...

to a 29-0 undefeated state championship season as a senior and was named 1989

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

player of the year. He went to the

University of Massachusetts 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 ...

to play for coach John Calipari, where he became one of the key players in the Minutemen's resurgence. Williams led the Minutemen to two straight Atlantic 10 tournament titles as a junior and senior in 1992 and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

- their first in thirty years - and was tournament MVP in both events. In 1992, the Minutemen advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. Williams was named first team All-Atlantic 10 his last two seasons and was the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 1992. He finished his career with 1,543 points (12.9 points per game) and 854 rebounds (7.2 per game).

Professional career

Following his UMass career, Williams was not drafted in the

1993 NBA Draft The 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Allan Hou ...

. He instead began a long international career in Spain with Elmar León of Liga ACB. Williams would play ten total seasons in ACB. He was a league All-Star in 2003 with Manresa. He ranks in the top 30 all-time in the Liga ACB in points (5,193), rebounds (2,493), and blocked shots (459). He led the league in blocked shots in 2002. Williams also played in the top leagues in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and was named an All-Star in Greece's

HEBA A1 The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and in France's LNB Pro A. He also played in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the latter stages of his career.

Coaching career

On September 9, 2011, Williams was named as an administrative assistant on former UMass teammate Tony Barbee's staff at Auburn.

References

External links

Italian League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Harper 1971 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Brazil American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Andrea Costa Imola players Baloncesto León players Basketball coaches from Connecticut Basketball players from Connecticut Bàsquet Manresa players Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto players CB Breogán players CB Estudiantes players CB Gran Canaria players Franca Basquetebol Clube players Liga ACB players Limoges CSP players Lobos Grises UAD players Panionios B.C. players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Bridgeport, Connecticut UMass Minutemen basketball players