Basketball has made Williams into world traveler | Local Sports

Since Jarvis Williams left Minnesota State after the 2012-13 season, he’s been on an incredible basketball journey.

He’s played professionally in Luxembourg, Japan, Switzerland and the Dominican Republic. He’s had two stints in the NBA’s developmental league. He’s even done some high-school coaching at Milwaukee, his hometown.

“I’ve been around the world, for sure,” Williams said.

This week, Williams had another career highlight when he played on the winning team in ESPN’s The Basketball Tournament. On Tuesday, the Golden Eagles, for which Williams was a reserve, defeated Sideline Cancer 78-73 to capture the championship and winner-take-all $1 million prize.

“It was amazing,” Williams said. “Playing on national TV, a lot of my family and friends and coaches could watch me, which wasn’t always the case when I was playing overseas. I definitely felt all the love from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa where I played (at Kirkwood Community College). It still feels a little surreal.”

Williams joined the Golden Eagles midway through the 2019 The Basketball Tournament, when the team finished second. The Golden Eagles are made up primarily of Marquette grads, but Williams has been friends with teammate Dwight Buycks since early in high school and he’s gotten to know many of the other players through workouts and pickup games.

The Golden Eagles, the No. 4 seed, won four straight games to win the championship. The 6-foot-6 Williams, whose share of the team prize was $90,000, averaged 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds, while shooting 60% from the field.

The teams were tested for COVID-19 before going to Columbus, Ohio, and were kept in the “bubble” throughout the tournament. Chemistry was developed through 3-on-3 games in the players’ free time, and Williams credited that bond as one of the reasons for the team’s success.

“My role was to come off the bench and be an energy guy,” Williams said. “Overseas, I was more of a scorer, but we had other guys who could score so I would do whatever they needed me to do, rebounds, defend. Our job as the second unit was to build on what the first unit had done.”

Williams played two seasons at Kirkwood before transferring to Division I Wisconsin-Green Bay. He had a good junior season there but suffered a foot injury before his senior season, which affected his potential role.

He decided to transfer to Minnesota State, as a graduate student, for his senior season, hoping to play a major role so that the professional scouts could get a better look at him. He was the Mavericks’ leading scorer in 2012-13, averaging 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. He was an All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and All-Central Region selection. He was the conference tournament MVP and was chosen for the Central Region all-tournament team.

“Coach (Matt) Margenthaler gave me an opportunity and let me be me,” Williams said. “He let me be a leader, and I was able to prove myself.”

Margenthaler said he wishes he could have had Williams on the team for more than one season.

“He came here to get some numbers and get that first professional contract,” Margenthaler said. “He’s one of the most talented guys we’ve ever had here. He’s a great kid and did everything we asked of him.”

Williams said he will go back to Luxembourg to play next season, provided the pandemic doesn’t shut everything down again. At 30, he relishes each opportunity, never knowing when it will end.

“I just want to keep playing the game I love,” he said.

Follow Chad Courrier on Twitter @ChadCourrier.


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