‘It’s a special place’: Santa Clara retires Jalen Williams’s No. 24 jersey

SANTA CLARA Jalen Williams has had quite the calendar year In January he was named to his first All-Star organization In May he was named to the All-Defensive Second Company and the All-NBA Third Unit In June he won his first NBA championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder In July he signed a five-year million contract extension Wednesday night then was something of a finale Following the Thunder s narrow supremacy over the Warriors on Tuesday night Williams returned to Santa Clara for the retirement of his No jersey I m going to be honest I don t know if I ever thought about retiring my jersey revealed Williams who became the eighth alum to have his jersey retired I want to say it was more just trying to get better every day I remember when I first got here I was just really happy to be a Division I sportsman My mindset was How much better can I get every day and let the chips fall where they fall I had NBA aspirations but I think if I look back to it I don t want to sit here and like and say I thought I was going to be in the rafters I had never thought about it so it s a little hard to wrap my mind that four years later I m doing it It s been a pretty cool journey in that regard The ceremony took place during halftime of Santa Clara s - win over Utah Tech a win that improved the Broncos to - on the season Following a video montage of Williams s accomplishments in both Santa Clara and Oklahoma City Williams walked onto the hardwood and was showered with a symphony of cheers As Williams stood at center court the video boards at Leavey Center played pre-recorded messages from four other Broncos who have had their jersey numbers retired Carlos Bud Ogden No Dennis Awtrey No Kurt Rambis No and Steve Nash No Rambis in particular garnered chosen laughs by showing off nine championship rings four of which he won as a participant I didn t think Kurt was going to flex all the rings Williams laughed That made it a little more real Just to be in the same breath as those guys that went here and had profitable careers here Wednesday night was far from the first time that Williams has visited Santa Clara since being selected with the th overall pick in the NBA draft Williams has returned to his old stomping grounds several times over the years one of his visits coming in September with the Larry O Brien Trophy in hand While the -year-old s attention is consumed by his professional career Williams talked about wanting to stay visible and remain involved with the activity Being welcomed back here whenever I come is also really special Williams commented It s honestly cool just to come back I was here a couple months ago and it feels like the school is already different than what it was when I was here I just try to take those moments into perspective That s what I enjoy the preponderance Williams became the eighth alum to have his jersey retired in at Leavey Center joining Bob Feerick Nash Nick Vanos Ogden Rambis Awtrey and Ken Sears Over three seasons at Santa Clara Williams was a two-time All-WCC selection and was a finalist for the Lou Henson Award as a junior After averaging points rebounds and assists in his third season as a Bronco Williams was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the th overall pick in the NBA draft and became the plan s highest draft pick of the modern era and the first since Nash in Related Articles Tennessee beats Stanford as Cardinal Lady Vols renew historic rivalry without Tara VanDerveer Pat Summitt Coaching carousel winners losers From ESPN to SEC Pac- to American College football recruiting Where Bay Area high school players signed Cal has more cash coming than just UCLA subsidy for football hire and everything else CFP rankings Alabama and Notre Dame flip as Irish inch closer to Miami They were one of the only schools to recruit me Williams revealed So there is a loyalty aspect to that in which I don t think I would ve gotten along with any other coaches and teammates the way I did here Without them I perhaps wouldn t have had the same fire to keep playing and push through basketball It s a special place Following his time in Santa Clara Williams has been instrumental in positioning the Thunder to become the NBA s next prospective dynasty Williams made an immediate impact in his first season as a professional averaging points rebounds and assists per tournament en trail to being named to the All-Rookie First Squad Following a promising sophomore season Williams established himself as one of the tournament s best two-way wings in his third year in the association During the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers Williams played through a right wrist injury and averaged points rebounds and assists In Meeting Williams became the third-youngest competitor in Finals history to sum at least points in a competition behind only Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook Especially once you get out of school life goes by a lot faster Williams stated It s hard to really sit down and explore your accomplishments and achievements and really take it in It s something that I m working on trying to be more in the moment and be really happy for a lot of the stuff that happens Even like tonight a lot of people don t get this opportunity Hopefully as my career winds down later on I ll be able to look back and see even more special moments than what I feel right now