DeAndre Williams

DeAndre Williams

No. 12 – Sabah BC
Position	Power forward
League	Azerbaijan Basketball League
Personal information
Born	(1996-10-04) October 4, 1996 (age 28)
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school	Klein Forest (Klein, Texas) Nation Wide Academy (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
College	Evansville (2019–2020) Memphis (2020–2023)
Playing career	2024–present
Career history
2024	NLEX Road Warriors
2024	Taiwan Beer Leopards
2024–present	Sabah
Career highlights and awards
T1 League champion (2024) NIT champion (2021) First-team All-AAC (2023) Second-team All-AAC (2022)

DeAndre Williams-Baldwin (born October 4, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for Sabah of the Azerbaijan Basketball League. He previously played for the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and the Evansville Purple Aces.

High school career

Williams played basketball for Klein Forest High School in Klein, Texas. After his junior season, he enrolled at the Sports Association of Texas for Christian Homeschoolers, with whom he completed online courses and improved academically in hopes of qualifying for an NCAA Division I scholarship. He started training under the guidance of former NBA coach John Lucas II.^[1] He played a postgraduate season at Nation Wide Academy, a new program in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds per game.^[2][3]

College career

Williams was ruled ineligible by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for his 2018–19 season at Evansville. He was designated as an academic non-qualifier but was allowed to keep his athletic scholarship and practice with the team after Evansville submitted a waiver.^[4] On November 12, 2019, in his second career game, he helped his team achieve a 67–64 upset win over No. 1 Kentucky in Rupp Arena.^[5] On December 7, he recorded a career-high 37 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 17-of-18 from the field, in a 101–87 win against Miami (Ohio).^[6] Williams missed 14 of Evansville's final 17 games with a back injury. As a freshman, he averaged 15.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 64.8 percent from the floor. Williams was a four-time Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week honoree.^[7] After the season, he entered the transfer portal and declared for the 2020 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility.^[8]

For his sophomore season, Williams transferred to Memphis, choosing the Tigers over Kentucky, Arkansas and Baylor.^[9] He became eligible about three weeks into the season, after the NCAA approved a blanket waiver for Division I transfers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] Williams helped Memphis win the 2021 National Invitation Tournament, posting a season-high 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals in a 90–67 semifinal win over Colorado State.^[11] As a sophomore, he averaged 11.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game.^[12] Williams was named to the Second Team All-AAC as a junior.^[13]

Professional career

On January 9, 2024, Williams signed with the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to replace Stokley Chaffee Jr. as the team's import for the 2023–24 PBA Commissioner's Cup.^[14] On March 16, Williams signed with the Taiwan Beer Leopards of the T1 League.^[15] On July 25, Williams signed with the Sabah of the Azerbaijan Basketball League for two-year contract.^[16]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2019–20	Evansville	18	15	27.1	.648	.455	.800	6.9	2.7	.9	1.0	15.2
2020–21	Memphis	21	20	26.1	.497	.455	.692	5.8	3.4	2.2	.5	11.7
2021–22	Memphis	26	25	25.0	.564	.300	.693	5.8	1.7	1.3	.7	11.1
2022–23	Memphis	35	35	31.0	.532	.403	.732	8.2	2.9	1.5	.9	17.7
Career		100	95	27.7	.551	.405	.728	6.8	2.7	1.5	.8	14.3

References

1. King, Jason (December 30, 2015). "Inside the Growing Trend of Home Schooling in High School Basketball". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
2. "Evansville basketball player declared ineligible by NCAA". USA Today. Associated Press. October 10, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
3. "Opportunity at UE is a dream come true for DeAndre Williams". University of Evansville Athletics. July 10, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
4. Hickey, Pat (October 10, 2018). "NCAA declares Evansville basketball recruit Deandre Williams ineligible for 2018-19". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
5. Hale, Jon (May 3, 2020). "DeAndre Williams helped Evansville beat Kentucky. Could he transfer to UK now?". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
6. Kalbrosky, Bryan (December 17, 2020). "Memphis' DeAndre Williams, now eligible, demands attention from NBA". Rookie Wire. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
7. Lindskog, Chad (April 20, 2020). "Reports: Evansville standout DeAndre Williams enters NCAA transfer portal". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
8. Giannotto, Mark (May 14, 2020). "Evansville transfer DeAndre Williams, a top Memphis target, to announce college decision Friday". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
9. Roberts, Ben (May 15, 2020). "Evansville basketball transfer DeAndre Williams won't be playing for Kentucky next season". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
10. Lerner, Danielle (January 19, 2021). "Sometimes down, but never out: How DeAndre Williams landed at Memphis". Daily Memphian. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
11. Gershon, Aaron (March 28, 2021). "Former UE star DeAndre Williams helps lead Memphis to NIT title". Princeton Daily Clarion. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
12. Terry, Samaria (April 14, 2021). "'Let's do this again': DeAndre Williams announces his return next season". WREG-TV. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
13. "American Athletic Conference Announces Men's Basketball Honors" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
14. "NLEX Road Warriors bring in Deandre Williams Baldwin as new import". arangkadanlex.com. NLEX Road Warriors. January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
15. "表弟還沒消息！雲豹簽NBA傳奇「一分錢」子弟兵 補強禁區戰力". ETtoday. March 16, 2024. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
16. "Sabah sign a 2-year contract with the American player". idman&Biz. July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.

External links

• Memphis Tigers bio
• Evansville Purple Aces bio