Kenrich Williams ’18 has the kind of résumé many basketball players dream about.
He has experienced a whirlwind stretch in his basketball career. He has a fan-favorite
nickname, a college degree, the honor of having his jersey retired at TCU and, now,
an NBA championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Williams is quick to point out that he doesn’t take any of it for granted.
“All this stuff that’s happening – a championship, nicknames and a jersey retired
– it’s like God truly has his hand on me the whole way,” Williams said. “I’m just
thankful all the time.”
He emphasizes that his journey hasn’t been a straight path to stardom.
Williams, known to many TCU fans as “Kenny Hustle” for his relentless energy on the
court, came to TCU in 2015 after starting his college career in junior college. During
his time at TCU, he became one of the most reliable and versatile players in program
history, highlighted by helping the Horned Frogs capture the 2017 NIT Championship
and earning NIT MVP, all while being a sociology major.
That championship mentality followed him to the NBA, where he’s carved out a role
on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I definitely learned a lot from playing here at TCU,” he said. “I’ve been able to
translate my leadership skills from here to the NBA.”
Williams has returned to Fort Worth and TCU a few times since then. He met with players
in the summer, was recognized on the field at a recent TCU football game and will
return Oct. 6 with OKC to open the NBA season against the Dallas Mavericks at Dickies
Arena. During one of his recent visits, Williams stepped back into the practice gym
where it all began, reminiscing on his time as a student-athlete and sharing advice
with the current Horned Frogs.
Q&A with Kenrich Williams
What does it mean to you to have won an NBA championship as someone who went undrafted?
It’s amazing and a blessing for sure. Just to be in the position to be able to compete
for a championship, be on a good team like the Thunder and have the opportunity to
play with the group of guys that I play with – I’m never going to find a better team than that. And me being undrafted is just a
testament to my faith in God and the hard work that I put in. It feels like it’s all
paying off now. I’m going into year eight, so that’s another huge milestone for me.
Who would have thought that I’d be here, having a championship and going into year
eight in the NBA?
How did playing at TCU shape your growth as a leader?
The first two years we had coach Trent Johnson, a very good coach. I learned a lot
from him. And those were two rough years. So, going through that, I didn’t want to
go through that again. I thought, “How can I get the team to come with me, grow with
me?” It was just trying to build a culture here at TCU because, for a while, there
was no (basketball) culture. It was known as a football school. I was trying to build
a culture ... and every day that I walked through those doors, I tried to compete
at a very high level, and it showed. I feel like every year I was here at TCU, we
got better. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my teammates who were with
me at the time, like BP (Brandon Parrish), Desmond (Bane), (Chris) Washburn and coach
(Jamie) Dixon ’87 and all the coaching staff. They gave me the opportunity to be who
I am today.
What made you want to stay at TCU and graduate?
I was just extremely grateful to have an opportunity to come here to TCU. I was at
a junior college before, and getting an opportunity to come here, play in the Big
12, grow as a player, grow as a man and get a great education, you can’t beat that.
So, all those things combined, why would I leave? Then I’m close to home. I’m an hour,
hour-and-a-half away from Waco where my mom and family can come watch me play. But
I’m extremely glad that I stayed down with TCU.
Focusing on the student part of student-athlete, you majored in sociology. How has
your sociology degree helped you on and off the court?
The stuff that I want to do after I get done is to coach. I want to get into business
stuff and, at the end of the day, I have a degree. The degree is going to hold weight
for whatever I want to do. I know how to read people now. Sociology helps me out.
What advice do you give to current Horned Frogs who want to go pro?
The main advice is you’ve got to work hard. This is not just practice. You’ve got to come here after practice. You’ve got to come here before practice. Put the work in. That’s my main thing. And the second thing, I would say, is to have faith and trust in God and believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you have a 70% to 80% advantage over everybody else if you truly believe in what you can bring to the table.
–Riane Cleveland