Kansas State University Athletics
K-State Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2006
- Class:
- 1976
For many, having your jersey retired and forever immortalized in the rafters of your alma mater’s arena is the ultimate honor. Now, Chuckie Williams, a member of Kansas State’s All-Century basketball team and one of the famed ‘Purple Pop-Guns’, will be celebrated once more as he enters the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame.
A four-year letterman for Coach Jack Hartman from 1972-76, Williams helped the Wildcats to an 82-30 (.730) record and a trip to the Elite Eight during his career. He was also a part of a Big Eight regular season championship team during his freshman campaign.
As a sophomore, the Columbus, Ohio, native, averaged just 5.3 points-per-game, but made a remarkable 16.8 point-jump his junior year, recording a 22.1-point-per-contest average. He guided the Wildcats to a 20-9 record and a trip into the NCAA Tournament, where the Wildcats squared off with Syracuse in the East Regional Final. For his efforts as a junior, Williams was named a first team All-Big Eight and a Helms Foundation All-American.
During the final campaign of his collegiate career, Williams led the Wildcats to a second consecutive 20-win season, while earning second team All-American honors from The Sporting News, Converse Yearbook and Basketball Weekly. He also repeated as a member of the All-Big Eight first team as well as the Helms Foundation All-America squad.
Williams still holds a number of school records, including field goals made in a game (22), field goals attempted in a game (42), and field goals made in a season (290).
In all, he is listed in the top 10 in 24 single-game, single-season and career statistical categories in school history.
He held a school single-game scoring mark for 19 years with 47 points against Holy Cross in 1975, before Askia Jones’ 62-point effort against Fresno State in 1994.
Williams also had the most prolific back-to-back scoring years in K-State history as he netted 640 points his junior year and 585 as a senior. The two totals rank fifth and seventh, respectively, on the school’s single-season scoring chart. He finished his career with 1,364 points and ranks sixth on the school’s all-team scorer list.
Following a career that saw him average 16.2 points on 47.0 percent shooting in 84 games, Williams became just the second player in school history to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft when he was picked 15th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1976.
