PROVO, Utah – After weeks of losing players to the transfer portal, BYU basketball got a portal prospect to join them in Rudi Williams.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Williams announced his commitment on social media.
Rudi Williams steps into BYU’s rotation with the opportunity to be a star on the guard line. With the graduation of Alex Barcello, BYU needed a veteran in the backcourt.
Knockdown three point shooter
Last season at Coastal Carolina, Williams was the 12th best three-point shooter in the country in Ken Pomeroy’s shooting metrics. He knocked down 47.2% of his attempts from beyond the arc—a welcomed addition to a BYU team that was 110th nationally from deep.
After putting his name into the transfer portal, Williams received interest from more than 30 schools. The 2022-23 season will be Williams’ final year of college eligibility.
He picked BYU over San Diego State, Wichita State, UConn, Cal, Xavier, Butler, and others.
Rudi Williams has one year of eligibility remaining
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, already has four years of college basketball experience behind him. His first two seasons were at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, then a year in the Big 12 at Kansas State, where he started four games in 27 appearances, then last season in Myrtle Beach.
During his official visit to Provo last week, Williams took part in a photoshoot that included BYU mascot Cosmo.
“The thing that stuck out about BYU was their sales pitch was real,” Williams said last week to KSL Sports. “The way they have been recruiting me from day one has been authentic the entire time, I feel.”
BYU finished last season with a 24-11 record, reaching the quarterfinals of the NIT. Since the season ended, the Cougars have lost six players to the portal. They also lost assistant coach Chris Burgess to rival Utah.
Williams gives BYU their first new addition to the 2022-23 roster with three scholarships available. BYU hopes to have one of those three scholarships go to Detroit Mercy transfer Antoine Davis, another grad transfer which paid a visit to Provo last week.
A big motivator for Williams’ final college move is the chance to be a winner.
“Really what I’m looking for in my next destination, I would just say somewhere with a winning culture. Winning is a must over there,” Williams told The Portal Report. “I want to go somewhere I have a chance to play in the March Madness Tournament and somewhere I can get ready to become a pro and win a lot of ball games. That’s pretty much it and that was my reasoning behind wanting to transfer.”
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
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