2008-09: Came off the bench in 28 games ... Committed only two turnovers in 191 minutes of action ... Grabbed three steals vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11/19) ... Played 10 solid minutes in a win at No. 19 Purdue (3/4), contributing four points ... Recipient of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2007-08: Played in all 30 games, starting 28 ... Third on the Wildcats and 14th in the conference with an average of 1.1 steals per game ... Ranked third on the team with a .459 field goal percentage and 79 total rebounds ... Scored a career-best 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting against Brown (11/24) ... Came off the bench to tally 14 points in a win over Arkansas State (12/3) ... Twice has notched a career-best four steals, against Brown (11/24) and again vs. Michigan (1/12) ... Grabbed a career-high nine rebounds at Ohio State (1/6) ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2006-07: Played in all 31 games with 23 starts ... Scored a season-high 11 points twice: once in the season-opener against Cornell (11/10) and again in his first game off the bench against Ohio State (1/24) ... Connected on a career-high three 3-pointers in that game ... Averaged 4.3 points overall ... Had 10 points in the win over PR-Mayaguez at the San Juan Shootout (12/20) ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2005-06: Appeared in all 29 games with 13 starts ... Averaged 3.4 ppg ... Made 10 straight starts at the guard spot dating from the Northern Colorado game (1/1) to the Michigan State game (2/4) ... Played a season-high 31 minutes in the win over Purdue (1/4) and at Minnesota (1/7) ... Fourth on team with 27 steals ... Scored a total of 100 points in first collegiate season ... In Big Ten games only, was second among league freshman in steals (0.81), seventh in scoring (4.1 ppg), fifth in rebounding (2.4) and eighth in assists (1.13) ... Scored a season-high 15 points in the road win against Minnesota ... Also led the team with a season-high six assists in that game ... Scored in double figures three times ... Had 10 points and six rebounds against No. 7 Illinois (1/21) ... Scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the win over Northern Colorado (1/1) ... Made first career start at Virginia (11/30).
2004-05: Redshirted, did not see any game action.
High School: Four-year letterwinner ... Went from sixth man as a junior to featured player for the Dolphins as a senior ... Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Third Team All-State ... 2003-04 Chicago Sun-Times All-Area selection ... 2003-04 Chicago Tribune All-State special mention ... 2003-04 All-Chicago Public League selection ... Participant in the 2004 Chicago Public League Coaches Association All-Star Game ... Rated as the 16th-best prospect in Illinois by ChicagoHoops.com in March 2004 ... Helped 2002-03 Whitney Young team to 25-4 record, conference title and sectional final of IHSA state tournament ... High school coach was Ron Branch ... Also lettered twice in track ... AAU team is Illinois Warriors ... Named to Second All-Elite Team at 2003 HSE/PEP Fall Classic ... Won St. Louis Eagles Tournament and finished runner-up at Nike Tournament in Bloomington, Ind. ... National Honor Society member ... Honor roll student and Principal Scholar.
Personal: Born Joseph Sterling Williams IV ... Parents are Joseph S. Williams III and Sharon Williams ... Mother attended law school at Northwestern ... Earned Bachelor's degree in political science in June of 2008 and currently working toward Master's in communication studies.
Williams' Career Stats
Total 3-Point ReboundsYear GP-GS Min/Avg FG-FGA Pct FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off-Def Tot Avg PF-FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts/Avg2005-06 29-13 505/17.4 33-88 .375 3-15 .200 31-50 .620 14-44 58 2.0 32-0 29 23 3 27 100/3.42006-07 31-23 678/21.9 52-146 .356 12-40 .300 17-32 .531 29-50 79 2.5 46-1 38 24 5 26 133/4.32007-08 30-28 731/24.4 61-133 .459 9-27 .333 28-51 .549 22-57 79 2.6 44-1 35 24 10 32 159/5.3TOTAL 90-64 1914/21.3 146-367 .398 24-82 .293 76-133 .571 65-151 216 2.4 122-2 102 71 18 85 392/4.4