Tai Wesley
July 23, 2020
Devin Williams
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 31/05/94
- Place of Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio (USA)
- Position: PF
- Height (CM): 206
- Weight (KG): 116
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: West Virginia (2013–2016)
- NBL DEBUT: 7/10/16
- AGE AT DEBUT: 22
- LAST NBL GAME: 17/12/16
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 22
- NBL History: Melbourne 2017
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Devin Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA). Williams first attended Withrow High School in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. As a sophomore in 2010/11, he averaged 13.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game for the school’s basketball team. As a junior at Withrow in 2011/12, he averaged 15.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and earned All-Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference First Team honours.
In 2012, Williams transferred to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida for his senior year. In April 2013, he helped Montverde rally from a 16-point deficit to beat Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School 67–65 in the final of the High School National Tournament. On a roster full of Division I recruits, Williams was first-team all-state for independent players.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Devin Williams made his NBL debut with the Melbourne United at 22 years of age. He scored four points in his first game.
With the league allowing three import players per team this season, Melbourne replaced import duo Stephen Holt and Hakim Warrick with Cedric Jackson, Ramone Moore and Williams. They essentially signed a fourth import by then adding Tai Wesley (via New Zealand) who was allowed to sign as a local under the asian player rule and swapped one Boomers big man for another with David Anderson (via Europe) replacing Daniel Kickert (to Sydney).
In coach Dean Demopoulos second season, United started poorly (3-7) and Jackson (10.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.4 steals) quickly being shown the door due to a poor attitude and failing to buy into the team’s defensive principals.
Casper Ware arrived as his replacement shortly after, immediately changing the squad’s direction.
Around this time, Chris Goulding (17.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steals), who missed six games with ankle issues, began to find his form, and David Barlow (5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists), returned from a calf injury that had seen him unable to take the court at all for the past two years.
Behind Ware (22.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 steals) and a healthy roster, United turned things around, winning 10 of their last 18 games.
With the team still capable of reaching the playoffs, Devin Williams (3.2 points and 4.0 rebounds), who surprisingly lasted 16 games before being cut after media and fans pointed out his lack of production and called for an import change for most of the season. With a third of the season remaining, Josh Boone (10.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) arrived and quickly went to work cleaning up Ware and Goulding’s missed shots and finished as the league’s best rebounder.
In Demopoulos’ second year as head coach, he would struggle managing player relationships, and by the end of the season, it was public knowledge his relationship with certain players wasn’t ‘civil’. A divide between the veterans of the team and the ever-competitive Demopoulos would result in seeing United unable to replicate the success from the previous season, finishing in sixth-place finish (13-15) and both parties moving on at the end of the season.
Devin Williams played one season in the NBL. He averaged 3.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 0 assists in 16 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 22 | Melbourne | 13-15 (6) | 16 | 162.5 | 51 | 63 | 0 | 15 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 25 | 20 | 41 | 49% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 11 | 26 | 42% | 48% | 49% | 13 | Totals | 16 | 163 | 51 | 63 | 0 | 15 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 25 | 20 | 41 | 48.8% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 11 | 26 | 42.3% | 49% | 49% | 13 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 22 | Melbourne | 13-15 (6) | 16 | 10.2 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 49% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.7 | 1.6 | 42% | 48% | 49% | 13 | Total | 16 | 10.2 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 48.8% | 0.0 | 0.0% | 42.3% | 49% | 49% | 13 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 13 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
|---|
COLLEGE
Williams played three NCAA seasons at West Virginia from 2013–14 through 2015–16, appearing in 102 games with 99 starts and finishing with career averages of 11.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting .445 from the field and .667 at the foul line in 24.6 minutes per game.
As a freshman in 2013–14, he played 33 games with 31 starts and averaged 8.4 points and 7.2 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game, while shooting .414 from the field and .572 on free throws, as West Virginia finished 17–16 overall and 9–9 in Big 12 play before losing to Georgetown in the first round of the NIT.
In 2014–15, he started all 34 games and lifted his production to 11.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 24.9 minutes, shooting .446 from the field and .702 at the line, and he was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention while also earning Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic All-Tournament Team recognition.
During the 2015 NCAA Tournament, he posted a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double in West Virginia’s 69–59 NCAA Third Round win over Maryland on March 22, 2015, helping the Mountaineers advance to the Sweet 16.
As a junior in 2015–16, he played 35 games with 34 starts and produced 13.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in 25.4 minutes, shooting .467 from the field and .693 on free throws, and he earned second-team All-Big 12 honors along with NABC All-District (8) Second Team recognition, while also being selected to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team and being named Las Vegas Invitational MVP (as well as making the Las Vegas Invitational All-Tournament Team).
In the lead-up to that junior season he was included as an All-Big 12 preseason honorable mention for 2015–16, and in 2015–16 he led the Big 12 in double-doubles with 16 while attempting 225 free throws, finishing the season with a 31-point, 10-rebound line in the Big 12 tournament championship game against Kansas before recording 12 points and 17 rebounds on 3-of-10 shooting in West Virginia’s NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Stephen F. Austin at Barclays Center; on March 29, 2016, he announced he planned to enter the 2016 NBA draft after his junior season at West Virginia.
Related
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