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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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