Reggie Williams (born March 5, 1964) is an American retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played ten seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). He was an All-American college player at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

and was a member of their 1983–84 National Championship team.

High school and college career

Williams began his career as a McDonald's High School All-American while attending Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Baltimore, where he played with fellow NBA players

Muggsy Bogues Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues (born January 9, 1965) is a former American basketball player. The shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 14-season caree ...

, Reggie Lewis, and David Wingate. The 1981–82 Dunbar Poets finished the season at 29–0 during Williams's junior season and finished 31–0 during his senior season, and were ranked first in the nation by USA Today. He then attended Georgetown and enjoyed an outstanding collegiate career. In his four seasons at Georgetown, he was amongst career leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals in school history, finishing no lower than seventh in any category. As a freshman, he scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds against the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

in the 1984 national championship game which the Hoyas won 84–75. Williams was named Most Valuable Player of the championship game. As a senior during the 1986–87 season, Williams was the leader of a young team which became a contender for a national championship. During that season he led the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

in scoring, and led the team in rebounding, steals and blocked shots, and was third in assists. Because of Williams's play, it led Georgetown coach Thompson to dub the team "Reggie and the Miracles". The team won a share of the 1986–87 Big East Championship and the Big East Tournament. In the 1987 NCAA tournament, the Hoyas reached the Southeast Regional Final, but lost to

Providence College Providence College is a private Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the local diocese, it offers 47 undergraduate majors and 17 graduate programs. It requires all of its undergraduat ...

, 88–73.

Professional career

Williams was selected with the fourth pick overall of the

1987 NBA draft The 1987 NBA draft was held on June 22, 1987, in New York City. This draft included two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players list, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was named to t ...

by the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. On December 12, 1987, Williams scored 34 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a loss against the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. Williams would spend ten seasons (1987–1997) in the league, playing for the Clippers,

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

(who he spent parts of 6 seasons with, the most of any franchise he played with),

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...

and

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. During the 1991-92 NBA season with Denver, Williams played 81 games and averaged career-highs of 18.2 points and 1.8 steals per game. Twice in that season Williams recorded a career-best 7 steals in a single game. On December 1, 1992, Williams scored 35 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in a 112-105 win against the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. In the

1994 NBA playoffs File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson M ...

, Williams played a key role in Denver’s unprecedented upset of the SuperSonics in the first round. It was the first time in league history that an 8 seed beat a 1 seed in the first round. He retired with career totals of 7,508 points and 2,393 rebounds. In July 2021, sportswriter

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former Sports journalism, sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer ...

said “I still feel like if Reggie Williams goes to a different team, his entire career is different. The Clippers stamp went right on him,” when discussing the

Life after the NBA

Williams became the boys'

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

Towson Catholic High School Towson Catholic High School was a private Catholic, co-educational high school in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, whose closing was announced in July 2009. At its peak enrollment in the 1960s and 1970s, more than 400 children attende ...

on May 30, 2009. He had previously served in the same capacity at Jericho Christian Academy in

Landover, Maryland Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25,998. Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the so ...

until it closed several weeks later. In 2010, he became coach at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C. He resigned in February 2013.

References

External links

Career NBA stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Reggie 1964 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Maryland Basketball players from Baltimore Cleveland Cavaliers players Denver Nuggets players Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in the United States Indiana Pacers players Los Angeles Clippers draft picks Los Angeles Clippers players McDonald's High School All-Americans New Jersey Nets players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Small forwards 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople