Eric Williams (basketball, born 1984)

Williams was born in Frankfurt, Germany to parents Eric and Debra (née Certain), who were both athletes at Livingstone College: his father was a football player, while his mother played basketball. Williams grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and started playing basketball at age 9; for the number of rebounds his mother once recorded in a single game, and as a freshman he averaged 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. and posted averages of 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game. as a nationally ranked prospect; He was ranked the 11th center in the nation by ESPN and was in the top-40 of several national rankings. He also finished in 2nd place for the Mr. Basketball award, behind Shavlik Randolph and ahead of Curtis Withers and Chris Paul. His successful senior year earned him a selection as a McDonald's All-American and in the Parade All-America Third Team. In the 2002 McDonald's game, which was played in New York City, he scored 9 points, shooting 4/10 from the field and 1/4 from the free throw line, recorded 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, and he was the top rebounder of the game with 13 rebounds in 14 minutes of play. ==College career==

Freshman season Williams was recruited since his junior year in high school, and received interest from Wake Forest, Clemson, and North Carolina. becoming the third recruit signed under newly appointed coach Skip Prosser. Sophomore season For his sophomore year, coach Prosser increased Williams' minutes, and the center improved his averages to 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.7 blocks. He started 24 of his 31 games, recorded a career-high 25 points against Indiana on December 2, 2003, and was named the ACC Player of the Week after his 24-point performance against North Carolina on December 20, 2003, when Wake Forest won after a triple-overtime. Junior season Williams started his junior year with an improved physical condition, having lost weight, and reached 271 pounds, a significant drop from his freshman weight of 340. He was also invited by Kelvin Sampson to participate in a training camp with the Under-20 USA national team, but was ultimately unable to join the team due to illness. He started 32 out of 33 games and recorded a new career-high with 29 points against Cincinnati on January 22, 2005, and on February 2 against Duke he broke a Wake Forest record for offensive rebounds in a single game with 11. The Demon Deacons reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, where they were eliminated by West Virginia despite a 23-points, 12-rebounds performance by Williams. On January 11, 2006, he recorded 22 points and 20 rebounds (career high) against Clemson. His season averages were all career-highs: 16.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks; he also led the ACC in field goal percentage with .619, and was third in the conference for rebounding average. When he ended his career at Wake Forest he ranked 13th for points scored with 1,738, 6th in total rebounds with 858, and his 121 career starts ranked second all-time in Wake Forest history behind only Tim Duncan. College statistics ==Professional career==

After his final year in college, Williams was automatically eligible for the 2006 NBA draft, and during the NBA Draft Combine he was measured at 6 ft 7.25 in without shoes, 6 ft 8.75 with shoes with a 7 ft 4.25 in wingspan and a weight of 285 lbs. He was not drafted by an NBA franchise, but he was drafted by the Yakima SunKings in the 6th round of the 2006 CBA Draft (61st overall). He joined the New Jersey Nets for the 2006 Orlando Summer League, playing in five games (2 starts) averaging 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game during the event. He did not make the Nets roster for the 2006–07 NBA season, and signed for Italian team Pallacanestro Cantù. In his first season in Serie A, he played 37 games, averaging 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds in 18.9 minutes, shooting .633 from the field. In 2007 he took part in the Las Vegas Summer League with the Phoenix Suns, playing 4 games with averages of 1.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 9 minutes. In July 2007 he signed for another Italian team, Avellino, where he averaged 12.8 points and 8.1 rebounds in his first season, and 8.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in his second season. In 2008 he won the Italian Basketball Cup, and the following season he participated in the 2008–09 Euroleague, playing all 10 games and posting averages of 9.9 points and 5.1 rebounds. In 2009 he left Avellino for Libertas Pesaro, another team in the Italian top level, and he played one season there averaging a career-best 14.2 points and 8.1 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per game: with Pesaro he took part in the 2009–10 FIBA EuroChallenge, finishing in fourth place. He played 15 games in the competition, posting averages of 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds. In the summer of 2010 Williams obtained a Bulgarian passport, and became a Bulgarian national in October, after coming back from a training camp with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Bulgarian passport made him an EU citizen, thus making easier for him to sign for European clubs. In 2010 he signed for another Italian team, JuveCaserta, where he played in Serie A and in the 2010–11 Eurocup Basketball. Williams had a successful season with Astana, where he won both the national cup and the league title, was named "best center" in both competitions, and won the Kazakhstan player of the year award. In 16 games in Kazakhstan he averaged 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds. but only stayed there for 6 months, being released in the last days of December 2012. He then joined Chinese team Guangzhou Liu Sui, which played in the National Basketball League, and averaged 14.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 9 appearances. averaging 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in limited playing time. He signed for Cantù again in July 2014, and played a total of 35 games with the team, averaging 7.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game. He also had the chance to compete again at continental level, taking part in the 2014–15 Eurocup. He then joined Polish team MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza and played the entire 2015–16 season there, posting averages of 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. In 2016 he moved to Switzerland, signing for the Lugano Tigers. In 2017 he transferred to Uruguayan club Hebraica Macabi to play in the 2017 Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol. ==References==