SANTA CLARA — Jalen Williams has had quite the calendar year.
In January, he was named to his first All-Star team. In May, he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team and the All-NBA Third Team. In June, he won his first NBA championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder. In July, he signed a five-year, $287 million contract extension.
Wednesday night, then, was something of a finale. Following the Thunder’s narrow victory over the Warriors on Tuesday night, Williams returned to Santa Clara for the retirement of his No. 24 jersey.
“I’m going to be honest: I don’t know if I ever thought about (retiring my jersey),” said 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 player. 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 90-80 win over Utah Tech, a victory that improved the Broncos to 8-1 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. 34), Dennis Awtrey (No. 53), Kurt Rambis (No. 34) and Steve Nash (No. 11). Rambis, in particular, garnered some laughs by showing off nine championship rings, four of which he won as a player.
“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 successful careers here.”
Wednesday night was far from the first time that Williams has visited Santa Clara since being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2022 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 24-year-old’s attention is consumed by his professional career, Williams talked about wanting to stay visible and remain involved with the program.
“Being welcomed back here whenever I come … is also really special,” Williams said. “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 most.”
Williams became the eighth alum to have his jersey retired in at Leavey Center, joining Bob Feerick (5), Nash (11), Nick Vanos (32), Ogden (34), Rambis (34), Awtrey (53) and Ken Sears (55).
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 18.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists in his third season as a Bronco, Williams was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 12th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft and became the program’s highest draft pick of the modern era and the first since Nash in 1996.
“(They were) one of the only schools to recruit me,” Williams said. “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 probably 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 potential dynasty.
Williams made an immediate impact in his first season as a professional, averaging 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game en route to being named to the All-Rookie First Team. Following a promising sophomore season, Williams established himself as one of the game’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 23.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists. In Game 5, Williams became the third-youngest player in Finals history to score at least 40 points in a game, behind only Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook.
“Especially once you get out of school, (life) goes by a lot faster,” Williams said. “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.”