What former Tennessee basketball star Grant Williams remembers of 43-point game vs Vanderbilt
Former Tennessee men’s basketball star Grant Williams was in the zone.
It was January 2019 and the Volunteers were playing at Vanderbilt. Williams was having a huge night but didn’t realize it.
Teammate Jordan Bone, an Ensworth graduate, grabbed him by the jersey.
“I vividly remember him saying, ‘Bro, look up,’ ” Williams said. “I was like, ‘What do you mean look up? We’re down six!’ He said, ‘No, look up.’ And I had 39 (points). He was like, 'You’re going to have 40.' I didn’t care because we were losing.”
He finished with a career-high 43 points, the fifth-most by a Vols player in a single game, and UT rallied for an 88-83 overtime victory. He went 23 of 23 from the free-throw line. It was the most free throws made without a miss in a single game by any Division I player in the past 60 years and one shy of tying the all-time record.
Williams walked down memory lane Monday while participating in a Q&A session with Tennessean sports writer Paul Skrbina during the Middle Tennessee High School Sports Awards show at Marathon Music Works, produced in partnership with Nissan. The red-carpet show recognized athletes, coaches, and teams from Middle Tennessee for their performances in 2023-24. Williams took photos with the winners and signed autographs.
“We beat Kentucky a lot in my three years (at UT). I heard there was a Vanderbilt commit and a Kentucky commit here. I just have to say, ‘Go Vols,’” Williams joked.
Williams, who plays for the Charlotte Hornets, not far from his high school alma mater Providence Day School, has the distinction of having played for both the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks, who are competing in the 2024 NBA Finals.
He was selected 22nd overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Celtics and was a key member of the team’s run to the 2022 NBA Finals.
Williams played in 47 games with the Mavericks this season, averaging 8.1 points before being sent to the Hornets at the trade deadline. He averaged 13.9 points in 29 games with Charlotte.
More: Middle Tennessee High School Sports Awards honors best from 2023-24 athletic seasons
Williams said Monday he was never the most confident athlete in high school and didn’t view the NBA as a legitimate dream until his sophomore year in college.
He was a unanimous first-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year in his final season with the Vols in 2019 after averaging 18.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.
Williams told awards show attendees if they want to be college athletes, they have to be able to handle highs and lows. Staying focused on getting a degree helped keep him grounded. Williams had offers from Yale and Harvard out of high school but went to UT and graduated in three years.
More: How Faith Swaby became Beech girls cross country’s top TSSAA runner after scoliosis surgery
“You don’t have to put too much stress on yourself,” Williams said. “If you have a schedule and a plan, follow that plan. And everything doesn’t go to plan, then adjust.”
Williams encouraged athletes to embrace difficult challenges. He didn't arrive at UT in playing shape immediately.
“I talked to (Yale) coach (James) Jones this year about this,” Williams said. “We were talking about the differences between Yale and the SEC. For me, I think it's the strength and conditioning program. I fully committed. I went to college at 280 pounds and I lost 25 pounds my first summer, and that really changed the course of my career.”
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee basketball: Grant Williams recalls 43-point game at Vanderbilt
