Nigel Williams-Goss (born September 16, 1994) 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 for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was selected by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

, with the 55th overall pick in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He spent two seasons with the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

, before deciding to transfer before the 2015–16 season. At a height of 6'2" (1.88 m) tall, his main position is point guard, but he can also play as a shooting guard.

High school career

20130403 MCDAAG Nigel Williams-Goss at the rim

Nigel Williams-Goss played high school basketball at

Findlay Prep Findlay Prep is a former high school basketball program located in Henderson, Nevada. The program was created in 2006 by local businessman Cliff Findlay, who owns several car dealerships in the Las Vegas area.Abramson, Mitch"Former Knick Jerome W ...

in Henderson, Nevada and was the program's first 4-year player and helped lead the team to a 124-8 record, including winning the High School National Championship in 2010 and 2012. He maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout his time in high school, while attending classes at Henderson International School. MaxPreps named Williams-Goss an honorable mention sophomore All-American in 2011. After helping lead Findlay Prep to a High School National Championship, while averaging 15 points, 4.9 assists, and 4 rebounds per game, he was named a third-team junior All-American by MaxPreps in 2012. As a senior, Williams-Goss averaged more than 18 points and 7 assists per game and was named to MaxPreps' first-team All-American team, after leading Findlay Prep 54 consecutive wins, including a 35-1 record and a trip to the semifinals of the National High School Invitational in the 2012-13 season. He was also named to Parade Magazine's All-America team Williams-Goss was named as to the prestigious 2013 McDonald's All-American Game Against the best high school seniors in the nation, he scored 10 points along with 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal, while shooting 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He also won the 3-point contest during the McDonald's All-American game festivities. Williams-Goss was also invited to the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

, where he led the West team to a 102–98 victory over the East, delivering the game-winning basket, in which he stole the ball and converted a three-point play after sinking a layup and heading to the foul line for an additional point. He finished with 17 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal on 5-for-6 from 2-point range, 1–1 from beyond the 3-point arc, and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in 20 minutes of play.

Recruiting

In December 2010, after beginning his sophomore year at Findlay Prep, Williams-Goss announced his commitment to UNLV. At the time he was being heavily pursued by the Rebels, along with Arizona, Washington, Oregon, and Oregon State, with increased interest from Georgetown and Connecticut. In April 2011,

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for Kansas State Uni ...

jumped ship from the head coaching job at UNLV to become the new head coach at Oklahoma. Two weeks later, Williams-Goss decommitted from UNLV, giving other programs, including the Rebels' coaching staff a chance to court him. Even though he re-opened his recruitment, Williams-Goss was still interested in attending UNLV and visited there many times, but after his junior year in high school, he planned visits to Harvard, Washington, Oklahoma or Missouri In May 2012, Williams-Goss pledged his commitment to Washington. He signed with the Huskies during the early signing period later that year.

College career

Freshman year

As a freshman, Williams-Goss started every game, while averaging 13.4 points, 4.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. His stellar season earned him a selection to the All- Pac-12 Freshman Team. He led the Pac-12 conference freshmen in scoring, assists, and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6). He set a new UW freshman single-season record with 140 assists. Despite his phenomenal year, UW finished with a disappointing 17-15 record (9-9 in Pac-12 games), losing in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament to Utah, and missed the postseason for the first time since 2007, after declining an invitation to the CBI. In his first collegiate game, he posted 6 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and a season-best 1 block on 2-for-7 field goal shooting and 2-for-2 from the free throw line in an 88-78 win over inner-city rival Seattle University. On November 17, he had 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a season-high 3 steals on 9-for-15 from the field and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe in a 92-80 win over Eastern Washington. On November 26, he scored 20 points, along with 6 assists and 3 assists on 5-of-8 2-point shooting, 1-of-1 from 3-point, and 7-of-8 free throws in an 83-79 win over Montana. On January 18, 2014, Williams-Goss posted 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal on 3-for-7 2-pointers, 3-for-5 from 3-point land, and 2-for-3 free throws in a 79-67 loss to Stanford. On January 25, he set a new UW freshman single-game scoring record with 32 points in come-from-behind 87-81 win over Oregon State, in which he shot 7-for-11 from 2-point range, a season-best 3-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line, 9-for-10 from the free throw line, along with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and zero turnovers. On February 22, Williams-Goss dished out a season-high 10 assists to go along with 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal on 7-for-10 field goal shooting in an 86-62 win over Oregon State. On February 28, he grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds, along with 17 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals on 6-of-10 2-point field goals, 1-of-2 3-pointers, and 2-of-3 free throws om 30 minutes, in a 72-49 win over cross-state rival Washington State.

Sophomore year

As a sophomore, he led the 2014–15 Huskies in points (15.6 scoring average) and assists (5.9 per game). He also contributed 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, while starting in 30 of the team's 31 games. His standout sophomore season earned him second-team all-conference in the Pac-12. He was also named as a third-team

Academic All-American The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

, while boasting a 3.74 cumulative GPA in pre-social science. Washington began the year with an 11-0 record, including impressive wins over Oklahoma and San Diego State, matching the best start in Lorenzo Romar's tenure as the Huskies' coach. Despite such a promising start, Washington would lose 15 of its last 20 games, finishing with a 16-15 record (5-13 in Pac-12 games), losing in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament to Stanford, and missed the postseason yet again, after declining an invitation to the CBI. In his first game as a sophomore at Washington on November 14, 2014, Williams-Goss grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds, along with 10 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block on 5-of-5 2-point shooting in a 77-59 win over South Carolina State. On November 28, he dished out a career-high 12 assists to go along with 21 points and 7 rebounds on 6-for-14 field goals and 5-for-6 free throws in an 80-70 win over Long Beach State. On January 2, 2015 in an 81-75 loss to Cal, Williams-Goss came the closest to a triple-double in his college career, posting 19 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds on 7-for-16 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. In an 80-77 loss to Washington State on January 10, Williams-Goss dropped 30 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and career-highs of 3 steals and 1 block on 13-for-22 field goals and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. In a loss to Cal on February 1, he posted a season-high 31 points along with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and zero turnovers on 8-of-11 2-pointers, 3-for-6 3-point field goals, and 6-of-6 free throws. On February 15, he had 20 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds on 6-of-15 within the arc, 1-of-3 beyond the 3-point arc, field goals and 5-of-5 free throws in a loss to Arizona State. In a win over Washington State on February 22, he had 20 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals on 6-of-10 2-pointers, 1-for-3 from 3-point land, and 5-of-8 free throws. In the regular season finale against Utah on March 7, Williams-Goss posted 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals on 10-for-16 2-point field goals, 1-of-2 3-pointers, and 5-for-7 free throws in a 77-68 win over #13 Utah.

Junior year

In April 2015, Williams-Goss announced he was leaving Washington and transferring to another school. Even though he had a great relationship with Coach Romar and his teammates, he was uncomfortable with the changes surrounding the program and the team's consistent losing. He initially claimed he was considering UNLV, Texas, Georgetown, Michigan State, Arkansas, and Gonzaga. A couple days later, he said he would take visits to UNLV, Providence, Texas, and Georgetown, with Michigan State also in the mix. After visiting UNLV and Providence, Williams-Goss cut his list to 4 (UNLV, Providence, Gonzaga, and Ohio State), with plans to visit Gonzaga and Ohio State. He called off his trip to Ohio State after committing to Gonzaga during his recruiting trip. He would have to redshirt the 2015–16 season before having two years of eligibility to play at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. Williams-Goss cited the Zags' track record of developing players during their redshirt year, winning at a high level, and their up-tempo offense which includes a ton of ball screens for his commitment to Gonzaga. Throughout his junior season, Williams-Goss provided his best season in college with his only season in Gonzaga. In 38 games he played with for Gonzaga, he recorded the most points off of his best overall shooting percentage, rebounds, and steals per game while also playing the fewest minutes per game throughout his college career. In addition to those results, he was also named the West Coast Conference's Newcomer of The Year and the West Coast Conference's Player of The Year, as well as became a member of the All-West Coast Conference First Team, a member of the

First Team, and was a consensus All-American Second Team for the help he provided for the 37–2 Gonzaga Bulldogs. Not only that, but he also helped lead Gonzaga to its first ever NCAA Championship match, where they ultimately lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels. After the end of the NCAA Tournament, Williams-Goss was one of a record-high 182 underclassmen to declare for the

, with him signing up with an agent on the day of his declaration.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 2013–14 , align="left" ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 32 , , 32 , , 33.2 , , .464 , , .356 , , .723 , , 4.4 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 13.4 , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" ,

, 30 , , 30 , , 36.8 , , .442 , , .256 , , .763 , , 4.7 , , 5.9 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 15.6 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" , Gonzaga , 38 , , 38 , , 32.8 , , .486 , , .368 , , .867 , , 6.0 , , 4.7 , , 1.8 , , 0.1 , , 16.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 100 , , 100 , , 34.2 , , .464 , , .331 , , .806 , , 5.1 , , 5.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 15.3

Professional career

Partizan (2017–18)

On June 23, 2017, Williams-Goss was selected by the

as the 55th pick of the

. After playing for the Jazz 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 ...

, he signed a two-year contract with Serbian club

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

on August 28, 2017. On February 18, 2018, Williams-Goss recorded 23 points, along with 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, and led Partizan to win the Serbian 2018 Radivoj Korać Cup, after an 81–75 win over

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional Association football, foot ...

. He was subsequently named the Serbian Cup MVP. In 46 games played during the 2017–18 season (played in the EuroCup,

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer of ...

, and

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup (Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup f ...

competitions), Williams-Goss averaged 17.3 points, 7 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

Olympiacos (2018–2019)

On July 5, 2018, Williams-Goss signed a three-year deal with Greek team

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, of the EuroLeague. On July 15, 2019, Olympiacos announced that Williams-Goss had exercised his one million dollar buy-out option in order to join the

Utah Jazz (2019–2020)

On July 19, 2019, Williams-Goss signed with the

Lokomotiv Kuban (2021)

On January 5, 2021, Russian club

Lokomotiv Kuban PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (russian: ПБК «Локомотив Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the VTB United League. The team is one of the top tier basketball teams in Russia. T ...

announced that they had signed Williams-Goss.

National team career

Williams-Goss helped the USA win a gold medal in the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in the Czech Republic, while averaging 7.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 0.8 steals, while shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from beyond the 3-point line, and 90 percent from the free throw line.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, 10 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .313 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , .6 , , .6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 10 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .313 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , .6 , , .6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.4

Playoffs

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 2.4 , , – , , – , , – , , .0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 1 , , 0 , , 2.4 , , – , , – , , – , , .0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0

EuroCup

, - , style="text-align:left; , 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1,

, 10 , , 10 , , 30.1 , , .494 , , .500 , , .852 , , 2.8 , , 6.7 , , 1.6 , , 0 , , 17.0 , , 20.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", Lokomotiv , 6 , , 5 , , 29.1 , , .551 , , .500 , , .750 , , 2.5 , , 5.2 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , , 17.0 , , 19.0 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 10 , , 10 , , 30.1 , , .494 , , .500 , , .852 , , 2.8 , , 6.7 , , 1.6 , , 0 , , 17.0 , , 20.1

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 24 , , 26.1 , , .404 , , .370 , , .827 , , 2.0 , , 4.2 , , .7 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , 8.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 30 , , 24 , , 26.1 , , .404 , , .370 , , .827 , , 2.0 , , 4.2 , , .7 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , 8.8

Career achievements and awards

Professional

Winner: (

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

) * Serbian Cup MVP: (

) * Greek All-Star: (2019)

References

External links

Euroleague.net profileEurobasket.com profileRealGM.com profileGreek Basket League profile

Gonzaga Bulldogs bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams-Goss, Nigel 1994 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople ABA League players African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Serbia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball League of Serbia players Basketball players from Oregon Findlay Prep alumni Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players KK Partizan players Liga ACB players McDonald's High School All-Americans Olympiacos B.C. players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban players People from Happy Valley, Oregon Point guards Real Madrid Baloncesto players Salt Lake City Stars players Shooting guards Sportspeople from the Portland metropolitan area Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players Washington Huskies men's basketball players