Frank Williams (basketball)

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Frank Lowell Williams (born February 25, 1980 in Peoria, Illinois) is a professional basketball player. As a point guard, Williams starred at both the high school and collegiate levels, but he has struggled to find a place in the NBA.

Williams attended Manual High School in Peoria, Illinois. He helped his team win two IHSA class AA boys state basketball tournaments, in 1996 as a sophomore and again in 1997 as a junior. In both tournaments, Williams was named to the five-player All-Tournament team. As a senior, Williams was named the 1998 Illinois Mr. Basketball. After high school, Williams attended the University of Illinois, and played three seasons for the Fighting Illini, leading the team to a string of NCAA Tournament appearances. After the 2000-2001 season, Williams was named the Big Ten player of the year, and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award.

The New York Knicks acquired Williams in a draft-day trade in 2002 from the Denver Nuggets. He played sparingly in his first season, but found a bit more time on the court during the first half of the 2003-04 season. Unfortunately, new GM Isiah Thomas then traded for star point guard Stephon Marbury, and Frank was relegated back to the end of the bench. The Chicago Bulls acquired him as part of a multi-player trade in the next off-season, but Williams showed up to training camp out of shape, and he spent most of the 2004-05 season on the injured reserve. Dissatisfied with his effort, the team announced that he would not be re-signed for the next season. Frank Williams signed with the Los Angeles Clippers on October 1, 2005 but was released 4 days later.

[edit] External links

• NBA Career Statistics at basketball-reference.com
• 1996 IHSA Class AA Boys Basketball Tournament Summary
• 1997 IHSA Class AA Boys Basketball Tournament Summary

2002 NBA Draft
First Round Yao Ming | Jay Williams | Mike Dunleavy, Jr. | Drew Gooden | Nikoloz Tskitishvili | Dajuan Wagner | Maybyner "Nene" Hilario | Chris Wilcox | Amare Stoudemire | Caron Butler | Jared Jeffries | Melvin Ely | Marcus Haislip | Fred Jones | Bostjan Nachbar | Jiri Welsch | Juan Dixon | Curtis Borchardt | Ryan Humphrey | Kareem Rush | Qyntel Woods | Casey Jacobsen | Tayshaun Prince | Nenad Krstić | Frank Williams | John Salmons | Chris Jefferies | Dan Dickau
Second Round Steve Logan | Roger Mason, Jr. | Robert Archibald | Vincent Yarbrough | Dan Gadzuric | Carlos Boozer | Milos Vujanić | David Andersen | Tito Maddox | Rod Grizzard | Juan Carlos Navarro | Mario Kasun | Ronald Murray | Jason Jennings | Lonny Baxter | Sam Clancy | Matt Barnes | Jamal Sampson | Chris Owens | Peter Fehse | Darius Songaila | Federico Kammerichs | Marcus Taylor | Rasual Butler | Tamar Slay | Mladen Sekularac | Luis Scola | Randy Holcomb | Corsley Edwards