Xavier University Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2018
- Class:
- 1999
Darnell Williams enjoyed a tremendous four-year career on the men’s basketball team and still ranks 17th on Xavier’s all-time scoring list with 1,572 career points.
Williams won 66 games over his final three seasons, helping XU capture NCAA berths in 1997 and 1998, an NIT berth in 2000 as a redshirt senior as well as two A-10 regular season and one A-10 tournament title. He suffered a knee injury during an NIT All-Star Team tour in Italy in the summer of 1998, an injury that sidelined him for the entire 1998-99 season.
Williams came to Xavier in the 1995-96 season, XU’s first as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Williams set a Xavier freshman scoring record with 35 points in a win over Duquesne at Cincinnati Gardens.
As a sophomore in the 1996-97 season, Williams led XU to a 23-6 overall record, a 13-3 A-10 record and an A-10 West Division Championship and a berth in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his sophomore season. As a junior in the 1997-98 season, Williams led the team in scoring at 17.3 ppg. and field goal shooting at 55.9 percent while earning First Team All-Mideast honors (Basketball Times), First Team All-Atlantic 10 (Basketball Weekly), Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team and Second Team All-Atlantic 10 (A-10 Coaches). He led the team to a 22-8 record overall, a first place tie in the Atlantic 10 West Division at 11-5 and a second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
