| Da'Monte Williams | |
| Number: | 20 |
| Position: | Shooting guard |
| Birth Date: | 2 November 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Peoria, Illinois |
| Nationality: | American |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 215 |
| High School: | Manual (Peoria, Illinois) |
| College: | Illinois (2017–2022) |
| Draft Year: | 2022 |
| Career Start: | 2022 |
| Career End: | 2023 |
| Years1: | 2022-2023 |
| Team1: | U.D. Oliveirense |
Da'Monte Williams (born November 2, 1998) is an American former professional basketball player. Williams previously played professionally for U.D. Oliveirense.[1] Williams played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference.
Williams played his high school career at Manual High School, playing on varsity all four years.[2] As a junior, Williams averaged 15.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.1 steals a game as he helped lead Manual into third-place at the IHSA Class 3A State Championship. Individually, Williams was awarded the Associated Press 3A All-State First-Team, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Class 3A/4A All-State First-team, the Champaign News-Gazette Second-team All-State, and the Peoria Journal-Star All-Area Co-Player of the Year.[3] [4] However, William's high school career came to an abrupt end after he tore his ACL in the fourth game of season.[5] [6] [7] Williams signed his National Letter of Intent on November 9, 2016.[8]
On February 28, 2016, Williams verbally committed to play Illinois and John Groce over offers from high-major schools like Indiana and Cincinnati.[9] In March 2017, Williams remained committed to playing for Illinois after Brad Underwood was hired to replace Groce as head coach.[10]
In his freshman year, Williams played in every game but one and started three times, averaging 3.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists a game. In his sophomore year, he played in every game and made 18 starts, averaging 3.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.[11] In his junior year, Williams established himself more as a defender even though his average points were down to 2.8 points a game, he guarded players from the one to four position.[12] In his senior year, he was unanimously voted as captain of the Illini along with Ayo Dosunmu.[13] In this season, Williams averaged 5.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists a game, all career highs. Moreover, his advanced stats were up as he set career highs in 15.1 PER and 10.0 box plus/minus. This was mostly likely due to his defensive contributions and his efficiency from three-point range as he shot 54.7%, which lead the nation for players that attempted at least two shots a games.[14] With the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States,[15] Williams returned to play for Illinois for a fifth year.[16] He played in all 33 games, starting 30, and averaged 3.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists a game. Moreover, with 159 games, Williams set the school record for the most career games.[17] [18]
After graduating, Williams joined U.D. Oliveirense. He appeared in two games in their 22-23 season.
On August 28, 2023, Williams was sworn in as a police officer in his hometown of Peoria.[19]
Williams is the son of former NBA and Illinois basketball player Frank Williams.[20] Williams majored in sociology.[18]
|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois| 31 || 3 || 16.9 || .337 || .225 || .705 || 2.9 || 1.1 || .7 || .1 || 3.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois| 33 || 18 || 21.5 || .344 || .317 || .700 || 3.5 || 1.2 || .8 || .2 || 3.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois| 31 || 22 || 21.6 || .347 || .283 || .700 || 3.6 || 1.3 || .7 || .4 || 2.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois| 31 || 17 || 24.9 || .515 || .547 || .681 || 5.3 || 1.7 || .8 || .3 || 5.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois| 33 || 30 || 28.8 || .307 || .325 || .531 || 5.0 || 2.5 || .8 || .3 || 3.9|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 159 || 90 || 22.8 || .366 || .354 || .670 || 4.1 || 1.6 || .8 || .3 || 3.8