Kenny Williams (basketball)

Kenneth (Ken, or Kenny) Ray Williams (born June 9, 1969 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina) is a former professional basketball player, most notably with the NBA's Indiana Pacers. He was known for his stellar leaping ability and off-court problems.

Williams, a 6'9" forward, was a prep sensation at Elizabeth City (N.C) Northeastern High School. In his senior year, he averaged 31 points per game and was named state player of the year for North Carolina in 1988. Williams was named first-team USA Today (over such players as Shawn Kemp and Stanley Roberts) and first-team Parade All-American. He participated in the McDonald's All-American and Capital Classic games.

Williams was one of the top four players in the class of 1988, along with Alonzo Mourning, Billy Owens and Kemp. He was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina, but was not offered a scholarship because of his failure to meet the minimum academic standards and the fact that he was not able to graduate with his high school class because of academic reasons. He instead enrolled at Barton County Community College in Barton County, Kansas (20.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game).

In 1989-90, Williams moved to Elizabeth City State University (where he did not play basketball), and was subsequently selected in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers (46th overall pick).

Williams played four seasons for the Pacers, from 1990–1994 and had a career high 6.3 points per game while playing in 68 games in 1993-94. He scored a career high 25 points in a Pacers win against the Miami Heat on February 9, 1994. For his career he averaged 4.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 260 total games. He was also a contestant in the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk Contest but failed to qualify into the second round.

Following his NBA career, Williams went to Europe and played in several countries, mainly in Israel: ASVEL Villeurbanne (1995-96), Forli (1996-97), Hapoel Jerusalem (1997-2000, 2001, being runner-up twice in the national cup and once in the league), Troy Pilsener Izmir (2000, returning to Hapoel shortly after), Bnei Herzeliya (2001-02), Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan (2003-04), Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2004-05, again losing in the league final) and Maccabi Giv'at Shmuel (2005-06).

In 2001, Williams became involved in a passport scandal, when he attempted to use a Czech passport that had been altered, and was also charged, in the United States, for failing to appear in court on charges of owing over $200,000 in child support.

External links

* [http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=WILLIKE03 NBA stats @ databasebasketball.com]
* [http://www.sportsstats.com/jazzyj/greats/90/williams-k.htm College stats at Sportsstats.com]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E7DA123EF932A35752C0A962958260 Kenny Williams pleads innocent to drunken driving charges] @ query.nytimes.com, published January 1, 1994