KJ Williams

Kamarian "KJ" Williams (born September 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for Murray State and LSU.

KJ Williams

No. 0 – Oklahoma City Thunder
Position	Power forward
League	National Basketball Association
Personal information
Born	(1999-09-03) September 3, 1999 (age 24)
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school	East Side (Cleveland, Mississippi) Cleveland Central (Cleveland, Mississippi)
College	Murray State (2018–2022) LSU (2022–2023)
Career highlights and awards
OVC Player of the Year (2022) 3× First-team All-OVC (2020–2022)

High school career

Williams began his high school career at East Side High School in Cleveland, Mississippi. As a junior, he helped the Trojans finish 22–12 and advance to the 3A State Basketball Championship game. Following his junior season, Williams entered Cleveland Central High School after it was formed by the merger of East Side and Cleveland High School.^[1] As a senior, he posted a triple-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Gentry High School and had a 27 point and 28 rebound game against West Tallahatchie High School. Williams averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game and helped the Wolves to a 22–9 record and a berth in the second round of the 5A State Basketball Playoffs.^[2] In February 2018, Williams committed to playing college basketball for Murray State, choosing the Racers over offers from Western Kentucky and Southeastern Louisiana.^[3]

College career

As a freshman, Williams averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.^[1] He set the Murray State single-season field goal percentage record during his freshman season, connecting on 69 percent of his field goal attempts.^[4] Following the season, he focused on improving his conditioning and adding to his mid-range game.^[5] Williams averaged 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore, and was named to the First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).^[4] As a junior, Williams averaged 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.^[6] He repeated as a First Team All-OVC selection.^[7] On November 9, 2021, Williams scored 32 points in a 109–77 win against Cumberland.^[8] On February 10, 2022, he scored a career-high 39 points in a 73–62 win against Tennessee State.^[9] Williams had 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting and five rebounds on February 24, in a 76–43 win over Belmont to claim the OVC regular season title.^[10]

At the close of the 2021–22 season, Williams was named first-team All-OVC for the third consecutive year, as well as OVC Player of the Year.^[11] As a senior, he averaged 18 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

On March 24, 2022, Williams declared for the 2022 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility and entered the transfer portal.^[12] On May 5, 2022, he transferred to LSU for his final season of eligibility, following coach Matt McMahon from Murray State.^[13] Williams scored 16 points in a 77–56 loss to Tennessee on January 21, 2023, and passed the 2,000-point mark.^[14]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2018–19	Murray State	32	22	18.2	.698	.200	.526	4.7	.5	.6	.6	7.6
2019–20	Murray State	32	8	23.4	.544	.360	.670	7.3	1.0	1.1	.7	12.7
2020–21	Murray State	26	26	28.7	.567	.413	.667	8.5	1.0	1.0	.6	15.6
2021–22	Murray State	34	34	29.0	.538	.327	.699	8.4	.7	1.4	.6	18.0
Career		124	90	24.7	.568	.355	.664	7.2	.8	1.0	.6	13.4

Personal life

Williams is the son of Amie Williams, who played basketball at East Side High School, leading the team to the 1999 4A State Title game before playing collegiately at Jackson State, and LaMarcus Smith^[1]

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds

References

1. Collier, Andy (May 20, 2020). "Imposing Power". The Bolivar Bullet. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
2. "Mike Davis & KJ Williams Join Racer Basketball". Murray State Racers. April 11, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
3. Tucker, Garrett (February 9, 2018). "MURRAY STATE LANDS PLEDGE FROM K.J. WILLIAMS". HoopSeen. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
4. Hurst, Jason (November 4, 2020). "Racers Picked Co-Favorite In OVC Men's Basketball Poll". WSIL-TV. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
5. Elfrink, Simon (November 11, 2019). "Racers continue to build strong post presence". The Murray State News. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
6. Welser, Joel (September 4, 2021). "#67 MURRAY STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL 2021-2022 PREVIEW". College Sports Madness. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
7. "Williams and Brown named NABC All-District 18". Murray Ledger & Times. March 19, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
8. "KJ Williams Pours In 32 points – Racers Defeat Cumberland On Opening Night At The Bank". Murray State Racers. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
9. "Williams scores 39 points, No. 23 Murray State beats Tenn St". ESPN. Associated Press. February 10, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
10. "No. 19 Murray St tops Belmont for OVC regular-season title". ESPN. Associated Press. February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
11. "Murray State's Williams and McMahon, Morehead State's Broome and APSU's Hutchins-Everett Earn 2021-22 OVC Men's Basketball Top Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
12. Taylor, Cody. "Murray State forward KJ Williams to test NBA pre-draft process". Rookie Wire.
13. "OVC POY KJ Williams To Join Coach McMahon At LSU". LSU Tigers. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
14. "LSU's KJ Williams Reaches 2,000 Career Points As Tigers Fall to No. 9 Tennessee". LSU Tigers. January 21, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

External links

• Murray State Racers bio