George L. "Shorty" Williams (1899 – February 4, 1961) was an American basketball

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

who played for the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

. He was a two-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and was named the Helms National Player of the Year as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 1920–21. That season, Williams scored 17.2 points per game en route to a 17–1 record and the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

championship. It was the second consecutive conference championship for the Tigers. George was the younger brother of Fred Williams, who was also an All-American at Missouri. Williams scored 311 points in 1920–21, which was a school record that stood for over 30 years. Regarded by Missouri basketball supporters as one of the greatest centers in program history, he led the Tigers to a two-year cumulative record of 34–2. He is still the only

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

player to be named the national player of the year in men's basketball. After college, Williams played AAU basketball and won two national championships, first with Lowe & Campbell's in 1922 and then with Kansas City AC Diamonds in 1923. On February 4, 1961, Williams suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while putting luggage into his car and died later that day.

References

* * 1899 births 1961 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri Centers (basketball) Missouri Tigers men's basketball players Missouri Tigers men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Kansas City, Missouri United States Army personnel of World War I {{collegebasketball-stub