Matthew Williams Jr. (born October 14, 1993) is an American professional

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. Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, Williams played college basketball at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

(UCF).

College career

Williams came to UCF from Jones High School in Orlando. He suffered several medical setbacks as he suffered a burst appendix as a freshman, then played through knee pain as a sophomore. Early in his junior season, Williams had tests and learned that his knee pain was due to inferior bipartite patella, a rare congenital condition requiring surgery. Williams had the surgery, missing the majority of that season. Following his redshirt junior season, Williams graduated from UCF and entertained transferring for his remaining year of collegiate eligibility. He originally chose to transfer to Wake Forest, but ultimately changed his mind and returned to UCF for his final year to play for new Knights coach

Johnny Dawkins Johnny Earl Dawkins Jr. (born September 28, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the UCF men's basketball team. From 2008 to 2016, he was the head coach of Stanford. He was a two-time All-American ...

. In his fifth year, Williams upped his scoring average from 8.1 to 15.1 points per game, helping lead the Knights to the semifinals of the

2017 National Invitation Tournament The 2017 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I Teams that were not selected to participate in the 2017 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament was played on campus sites in the first three rounds ...

. Williams finished his UCF career as the school's leader in

three-pointers A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a Field goal (basketball), field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, i ...

for a career (274), season (126) and game (11). The season and game marks were also

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

records.

Professional career

Miami Heat/Sioux Falls Skyforce (2017–2018)

Following the close of his college career, Williams played for the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

in the

2017 NBA Summer League The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Eight teams participated in the wee ...

. At the end of the league, he signed with the Heat for the 2017–18 season. On October 15, his contract was converted to a two-way deal, meaning he'd be able to split playing time between the Heat and their

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate, the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

. He spent the first week of the season with the Heat before an assignment in the G-League. He was then recalled on December 20 as the Heat endured several simultaneous injuries. Williams played 3 minutes, posting a rebound and 4 assists against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 23. He appeared in a total of 3 games, tallying 5 points and a rebound in 11 minutes of action before he was waived on New Year's Eve in order for the team to sign Derrick Jones Jr. Williams was later reacquired by the

KTP and Kymi (2018–2019)

On September 12, 2018, Williams joined

KTP Basket Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat Basket, shortly KTP Basket, is the largely independent basketball team of Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat, a Finnish sports club based in Kotka, and has played in the Korisliiga since 1957. The club has won the Finnish cha ...

of the Finnish

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

. In January 2019, Williams signed with Kymi of the

Greek Basket League 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 ...

. In 12 GBL games, Williams averaged 8.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 26 minutes per game.

Donar (2019–2020)

On July 16, 2019, Williams signed with

Donar Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and ...

of the Dutch Basketball League. The 2019–20 season was cancelled prematurely in March because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, and Williams returned to the United States. He averaged 14.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 21 DBL games.

Cimarrones Caribbean Storm (2020–2021)

Williams spent the 2020-21 season in Colombia with the Cimarrones Caribbean Storm, averaging 7.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

GTK Gliwice (2021)

On August 11, 2021, Williams signed with

GTK Gliwice Gliwickie Towarzystwo Koszykówki Gliwice, shortly GTK Gliwice, is a professional basketball club based in Gliwice, Poland. The team currently plays in the first level Polish Basketball League. History The club was founded in 1998 and initially f ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...

. In 13 games, he averaged 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game.

Lavrio (2021–2022)

On December 11, 2021, Williams officially returned to Greece, signing with BCL club

Lavrio Laurium or Lavrio ( ell, Λαύριο; grc, Λαύρειον (later ); before early 11th century BC: Θορικός ''Thorikos''; from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greec ...

. In 14 games, he averaged only 4.6 points, 1 rebound and 0.5 assists, playing around 18 minutes per game.

Supersónicos de Miranda (2022)

In July 2022, Williams signed with the Supersónicos de Miranda of the

Venezuelan SuperLiga The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

Career statistics

NBA

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Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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References

External links

UCF Knights bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Matt 1993 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople American expatriate basketball people in Colombia American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from Orlando, Florida Donar (basketball club) players Dutch Basketball League players GTK Gliwice players KTP-Basket players Kymis B.C. players Lavrio B.C. players Miami Heat players Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce players UCF Knights men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players