Santa Clara alum Jalen Williams rises on the big stage, shines in NBA Finals

San Francisco Chronicle​

7 hours ago

Barely more than three years ago, Jalen Williams traveled to Santa Barbara for a workout with player development coach Packie Turner, who annually runs the pre-draft camp for longtime agent Bill Duffy.
Williams, fresh off a strong junior season at Santa Clara, wanted to explore his NBA options, but he wasn't entirely sure about staying in the draft. Most early projections had him in the 50s or 60s among pro prospects. He liked playing for the Broncos. Duffy told Turner that Williams might return to school.
Then, a few minutes into the workout, Turner approached Duffy on the sideline at Page Youth Center and said flatly, 'He's not going back, and he'll be in the lottery.'
Good call.
Fast forward to Thursday, with Williams and Oklahoma City on the brink of winning the NBA championship. They hold a 3-2 lead on the Pacers and could secure the title in Game 6 in Indianapolis. If the Thunder lose, they'll take another crack Sunday in Game 7 at home.
Freshly minted league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way, but Williams is more than showing his value as a dynamic co-star. He offered fresh evidence Monday night with a 40-point, six-rebound, four-assist performance to propel OKC to victory in Game 5.
That counted as the latest snapshot in Williams' emergence into the NBA elite, in only his third season. He earned his first All-Star Game appearance this year, followed by third-team, All-NBA honors and second-team, All-Defensive Team recognition.
Williams and Cleveland's Evan Mobley were the only players selected to both All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.
It's fair to say this all seemed highly improbable in April 2022, when Williams showed up in Santa Barbara. Turner, who runs a training facility called UPBasketball in Burlingame, has seldom seldom seen a player as polished as Williams in nearly 10 years of working with draft prospects.
Williams displayed touch with either hand and uncommon calmness. Most of all, he had longer arms than NBA teams realized – a 7-foot-2 wingspan on a 6-6 frame – and he processed information with striking efficiency.
One example: Turner asked Williams about his go-to move to finish around the basket. He immediately asked, 'Where's the secondary defender? The third defender?' Turner was impressed.
'That workout was pretty phenomenal,' he said this week. 'I don't think I've ever had that clear of a feeling for a guy that much off the radar.'
Turner's instincts proved accurate. Oklahoma City made Williams the 12th overall pick in the 2022 draft (yes, in the lottery), a popular choice in Santa Clara's basketball offices.
Broncos assistant coach Jason Ludwig originally led the recruiting effort on Williams. Ludwig first saw him in the summer of 2017, when Williams was 16 and preparing for his junior year at Perry High School in Gilbert, Ariz., outside Phoenix.
Ludwig came across Williams during an AAU tournament, on a distant court in a giant Southern California warehouse. He was just a baby at the time, Ludwig recalled, with arms and legs too big for his slender body.
But Williams clearly had diverse skills and a smooth jump shot. Ludwig made a point to follow him his final two years of high school, and he ultimately landed him for Santa Clara, with virtually no competition from bigger schools.
Williams made 22 starts for the Broncos as a freshman, but not because of the ruthless downhill drives OKC fans have come to appreciate. Even back then, Williams made an impact on the other end of the court.
'The thing that got him on the court his freshman year was his defense,' Ludwig said. 'He became our best perimeter defender from Day 1. Then his offense came, and every year he got a little better.'
Along the way, Ludwig and head coach Herb Sendek came to understand Williams' appealing mix of commitment and personality. He's the son of military parents – dad Ronald served 24 years in the Air Force (as a jet engine mechanic and in logistics), mom Nicole served 12 as a nurse – and Jalen always exhibited a businesslike demeanor and strong work ethic.
Off the court, he loosened up and showed off his sense of humor and interests beyond basketball. Williams' popular nickname might be 'J-Dub,' but Sendek calls him 'J-Drip' as a nod to his stylish attire.
'He always had a flair for fashion, whether it was his shoe game or sunglasses,' Sendek said. 'You were never going to see Jalen when he wasn't fully put together, and now he's taking that to another stratosphere in the NBA.'
Sendek raved about the way Williams impacts winning on both offense and defense, and the way he pulls a team together with his charisma and upbeat nature. He blossomed as a junior at Santa Clara, bumping his scoring from 11.5 to 18.0 points per game after the tumult of a pandemic-shortened sophomore season.
He's followed a similar trajectory in the NBA, increasing his scoring from 14.1 as a rookie to 19.1 and then 21.6 this season. That's even the case during these Finals, in which his point totals through five games look like this: 17, 19, 26, 27 and 40.
Late in Monday night's game, when Williams attacked his defender off the dribble and then nailed a fadeaway jumper, ABC analyst Richard Jefferson noted the parallels to Michael Jordan's signature shot. More often, Williams has drawn comparisons to Scottie Pippen, Jordan's longtime teammate.
Also notably, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has said he would play Williams even if he were missing shots given the many other ways he contributes. His poise has been striking on the NBA's biggest stage, as the tension and intensity rises.
'He's always been an old soul, and that kind of permeates other aspects of his life – being calm and collected on the court,' Ludwig said. 'It's even with the type of music he plays. He has a wide range of stuff. I'm a big '90s R&B guy, but he knows those songs, too.'
Duffy, the widely respected agent and a former Santa Clara player himself, made an interesting parallel. He compared Williams' blend of maturity, confidence and steady development to three other players with Bay Area ties. They all emerged from mid-major college programs to become NBA standouts: Stephen Curry (Davidson), Steve Nash (Santa Clara) and Damian Lillard (Weber State).
This sounds premature, but it feels like Williams, 24, is using these Finals to vault himself toward that echelon.
'It's called a coming-out party, right?' Duffy said.
Yes, it is.