Kendall Williams (born July 3, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who last played for
Atléticos de San Germán
Atléticos de San Germán is a basketball club of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) based in San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Founded in the 1930s after the amalgamation of the old San Germán team and the Farmacia Martín team, the team is one of ...
of the Puerto Rican
Baloncesto Superior Nacional
The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation.
T ...
(BSN). He played college basketball for the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
.
High school
Williams attended
Los Osos High School
Los Osos High School is a public high school located in the city of Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California's Inland Empire in the United States. It operates as part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District. The school was named a Californ ...
in
Rancho Cucamonga, California
Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 28th ...
, as a three-year starter while being a first team all-state and two-time all-CIF selection for the Grizzlies.
During his senior year at Los Osos, Williams averaged 22.4 points per game, 4.8 assists per game and 2.9 steals per game to go along with 7.8 rebounds per game including 40 points in
73–75 lossagainst
Upland High School
Upland High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Upland, California. The school was established in 1955 as part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, and since 1988 it has been a member of the Upland Unified ...
when he was 14-of-26 from the floor and 11-of-13 from the line.
Williams was also a scrappy rebounder, posting double-digit boards ten times, including 13 in
gameagainst Vista Murrieta and anothe
versus Arcadia. He also was a prolific pick-pocketer, nabbing four or more steals ten times.
Williams was a spectacular student at Los Osos, maintaining a 3.7 cumulative GPA for his high school career.
College
UCLA
While still a tenth-grader at Los Osos HS, Williams verbally committed to the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
to play in 2010. While there was some skepticism concerning Williams early decision to attend UCLA, The Los Angeles Times reported that "
ose close to Williams say they are confident that his commitment will work out for both" Williams and UCLA. However, after UCLA pulled his scholarship in late July 2009 because of concerns of coach Ben Howland over Williams's on court behavior while Howland was in attendance.
New Mexico
Freshman Year, 2010-2011
After decommitting from
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
in June 2009, Williams quickly found a home in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
in March 2010, and blossomed into a reliable player for
Steve Alford
Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...
's Lobos squad. Williams scored a career-high 20 points in
91–54 decisionagainst Longwood University and posted his first collegiate double-double against Colorado, putting up 18 points and 11 assists in
89–76 win Williams also jockeyed for scoring leader for the Lobos, and consistently dished out the second most assists on the team (behind
Dairese Gary
Dairese Layton Gary (born October 21, 1988, pronounced da-REECE) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball at New Mexico, where he was named First-team All- MWC in 2010 and 2011.
High school career
Gary attended ...
). In addition, Williams both maintained one of the top six assist-to-turnover ratios (2.15 assists to turnovers) in the Mountain West Conference, and led the conference in three-point shooting percentage, both incredible feats for a true freshman. On March 7, 2011, Williams was selected as the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year after averaging 10.1 points per game and 3.7 assists per game. In his first collegiate postseason game, Williams led the Lobos in scoring with a 16-point performance against Colorado State in
67–61 victory
Sophomore Year, 2011-2012
Prior to the start of the 2011–12 college basketball season, Williams was ranked the tenth best mid-major point guard in the nation and the seventeenth best point guard overall in the nation. Williams was also noted to be one of twenty breakout players by Ballin' is a Habit. He was also picked as a Wooden Award preseason watch list snub, and substantiated that argument by being selected to the 2011–12 Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team.
During the middle of non-conference play, Williams was named one of 65 candidates for the
Bob Cousy Award
The Bob Cousy Award presented by The College of the Holy Cross (or Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award) is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate point guard. ...
, which recognizes the nation's best point guard.
Despite not having the same prolific start as during his freshman year,
Williams improved upon a number of his freshman stats during his second year, including points, assists, and rebounds. Williams recorded double-digit points in 18 of the Lobos' regular-season contests, including a season-high of 21 points in wins agains
North Dakotaand a
then-No. 15 San Diego State Another notable regular-season performance included 16 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in
76–71 win at Arizona State In the postseason, Williams continued to contribute as he scored 12.2 points per game and dished out 4.4 assists per game during the
MW tournament and
NCAA tournament. In the MW Championship game vs. San Diego State,
68–59 Lobo victory Williams tallied 14 points and six assists. In New Mexico'
opening-round winversus Long Beach State in the NCAA Tournament, Williams upped his output, scoring 16 points, including a three-pointer that gave New Mexico the lead for good with under five minutes to go.
To cap off his strong sophomore campaign, Williams was named Second Team All-Mountain West and First Team All-District 17 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Junior Year, 2012-2013
Bolstered by his strong showing his sophomore year, Williams opened the 2012–13 season with a handful of preseason accolades. Williams was chosen to the Preseason All-Mountain West team for the Lobos, both by the Mountain West and by College Sports Madness. Williams also highlighted CollegeBasketballTalk's top 15 backcourts of 2012–13 season, which checked in at No. 12 as a group.
Williams started his third year with five-straight games scoring in double figures, including a then-career high total of 23 points in
victory over Illinois–Chicagoat the
Paradise Jam. Also at the Paradise Jam, Williams showcased some late heroics versus George Mason, where he sank a three-point basket from 33 feet with 11.9 seconds to bring New Mexico to within two points and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass that eventually led to
Tony Snell's game-winning three with 1.8 seconds remaining. Williams was selected as the MVP of the Paradise Jam Tournament after averaging 17.3 points over the three contests. Williams bettered his career high in points twice more during the non-conference portion of the Lobos' schedule, as he scored 24 points in wins a
Indiana Statean
New Mexico State During a December contes
versus South Dakota State Williams became the 30th player in program history to score 1,000 career points after chipping in 21. He closed out non-conference play scoring in double figures all but three times, and was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame final watch list for the 2013 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award right as conference season started. Through the first 11 games of MW play, Williams maintained a relatively low profile, scoring more than 12 points just twice. He did post an 11-point, 7-assist and 6-rebound performanc
versus Air Force but statistically speaking, Williams's opening of conference play saw him average 10.5 points per game and shoot 36 percent from the floor and 28 percent from beyond the arc, all below his career marks.
=46 Points
=
Despite Williams's uncharacteristic output to start conference play, all was forgotten when he scored 46 point
versus No. 22 Colorado Stateon Feb. 23, 2013. Williams accounted for more than half of the Lobos' 91 points, and shot 12-of-16 from the floor, 10-of-13 from beyond the arc and converted 12-of-17 free throws. He also added five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes, which made his point-per-minute average 1.4. His 10 three-pointers were a New Mexico and Mountain West record, and his 46 points tied for the third-highest scoring total in school history and fifth-best in conference history. He also set the school record in most points scored in a road game, and broke the Moby Arena scoring record of 44 points set by Portland State's Freeman Williams on Nov. 29, 1975.
[Kendall Williams hits 10 3s, scores 46 points in New Mexico's win]
Associated Press, February 23, 2013
Williams earned considerable attention for his exploits at Moby Arena (which snapped Colorado State's 27-game home winning streak
[), including his first Mountain West Player of the Week honor. Also among his accolades was earning the Capital One Cup Impact Performance Of the Week and player of the week honors from ESPN's Dick Vitale, NBCSports' Rob Dauster and a handful of other media outlets like CBS Sports and FOX. Williams was also added to Jason King's ]Wooden Award
The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...
watchlist on ESPN after his performance.
After his showing at Colorado State (which bumped in season scoring average from 13.1 points to 14.4), Williams closed out the regular season in the same fashion in which he started, tallying double figures in his last two games. In a close los
at Air Force
he recorded his second career double-double, scoring 21 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Due most in part to his 46-point game, Williams was accorded the honor of Mountain West Player of the Year, as well as a berth on the conference's First Team. It was fourth time a New Mexico player won the conference player of the year award. He was also selected to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District VIII team, which includes players from all Division I schools in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah.
Professional career
After going undrafted in 2014, he signed with Victoria Libertas Pesaro
Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...
of the Lega Basket Serie A
The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...
where he averaged 5.6 points per game. On January 29, 2015, he signed with Fileni Jesi of the Serie A2 Basket
Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...
.
On September 28, 2016, Williams signed with the London Lightning
The London Lightning is a Canadian professional basketball team based in London, Ontario, Canada, with home games at the Budweiser Gardens. The team is a charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) that began play for the 201 ...
of the National Basketball League of Canada
The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...
; however, he left London on October 31 to sign with Raptors 905
The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...
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 ...
.
Playing style
ESPN called Williams "a multifaceted, offensive player" in their January 2010 scouting report, noting his long-range skills (shooting over 45% from beyond the arc) and lane-driving capabilities. ESPN lauded Williams's "ability to handle physical play when finishing in the lane" and was called a "high major prospect" by Scouthoops.com. His defense is characterized as tenacious and has been called by UNM head coach Steve Alford one of the fastest players he has ever coached.
References
External links
RealGM profile
LNB Pro B profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Kendall
1991 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in Canada
American expatriate basketball people in France
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American expatriate basketball people in Mexico
American men's basketball players
Atléticos de San Germán players
Basketball players from San Bernardino County, California
Chorale Roanne Basket players
New Mexico Lobos men's basketball players
Sportspeople from Upland, California
Pioneros de Los Mochis players
Point guards
Shooting guards
Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro players
Los Osos High School alumni