Corliss Williamson

No. 4, 34, 35, 14
Power forward / Small forward
Personal information
Born	(1973-12-04) December 4, 1973 (age 38) Russellville, Arkansas
Nationality	American
High school	Russellville
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
College	Arkansas (1992–1995)
NBA Draft	1995 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13th overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Pro career	1995–2007
Career history
As player:
1995–2000	Sacramento Kings
2000–2001	Toronto Raptors
2001–2004	Detroit Pistons
2004–2005	Philadelphia 76ers
2005–2007	Sacramento Kings
As coach:
2009–2010	Arkansas Baptist College (NJCAA)
2010–present	Central Arkansas University (NCAA)
Career highlights and awards
NBA Champion (2004) NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2002) NCAA Champion (1994) NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1994) 2× SEC Player of the Year (1994–1995) SEC Athlete of the Year (1994) 2× Consensus NCAA All-American Second Team (1994–1995)
Career NBA statistics
Points	9,147 (11.1 ppg)
Rebounds	3,183 (3.9 rpg)
Assists	972 (1.2 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men’s Basketball Competitor for  United States FIBA U21 World Championship Gold 1993 Valladolid National team

Corliss Mondari Williamson (born December 4, 1973) is the current head basketball coach for the University of Central Arkansas and a retired American professional basketball player, who played for four teams during his 12-year NBA career. His nickname is "Big Nasty",^[1] a moniker he received from his cousin when he was 13. Williamson was a dominating power forward in college, but became an undersized power forward in the NBA and mostly played at the small forward position.

Amateur career[link]

High school[link]

Corliss Williamson played basketball at Russellville High School, where he achieved numerous accolades. He was a three-time all-conference and all-state selection, and was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992. Prior to his senior year, Williamson held his own against Chris Webber in an AAU championship game, getting 37 points to Webber's 38 points. As a senior Williamson averaged twenty-eight points and nine rebounds per game,^[2] and led his team to the King Cotton Classic championship. In that title game, Russellville defeated a team led by Jason Kidd, with Williamson blocking a potential game-winner by Kidd at the buzzer. Williamson was named tournament MVP, but gave his medal to Kidd at the award podium. Williamson closed out his career with a selection to play in the 1992 McDonald's All-American Game.^[3] He came in second in scoring to game MVP Othella Harrington, with fourteen points, and also had ten rebounds.^[4] His #34 jersey has been retired by Russellville High and hangs on the wall of the school's arena, along with his McDonald's All-American jersey.

College[link]

Williamson played at the University of Arkansas for head coach Nolan Richardson from 1992 to 1995. In the 1992–93 season, Williamson led Arkansas to a 22–9 record and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Williamson averaged 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game,^[5] and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Williamson helped lead Arkansas to a 22–9 record and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

In the 1993-94 season Williamson was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament while leading the Razorbacks to a 31–3 record and their only NCAA Basketball Championship under coach Nolan Richardson by defeating the Duke Blue Devils.

Williamson's stellar play led the team into the championship game in 1995 as well. Arkansas lost to UCLA, finishing 32–7.

In three seasons at the University of Arkansas, Williamson was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 1993, and was 1st Team All-SEC from 1993 to 1995. He was also named the SEC Player of the Year for the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, and was named 2nd Team All-American for both years as well. In addition to the 1994 NCAA National Championship, Williamson also led the Razorbacks to the SEC West Division title all three seasons, and the SEC regular season championship in 1994 and 1995. Williamson finished his career at Arkansas with 1,728 points, which ranks 8th all-time in UofA history.

Williamson is considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in school and state history, and was recently inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

NBA career[link]

Williamson declared for the NBA Draft following his junior season, and was selected by the Sacramento Kings as a lottery pick (13th overall) in the first round of the 1995 NBA Draft. His best career year was in the 1997–98 season when he played 79 games and averaged 17.7 points per game for the Kings, finishing second to Alan Henderson for the NBA Most Improved Player Award. After Sacramento traded him prior to the 2000–01 season to the Toronto Raptors (in exchange for Doug Christie), for whom he played 42 games, Williamson was traded to the Detroit Pistons where in the 2001–02 season he was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year and eventually was a member of the Pistons' 2003–04 NBA Championship team. After being traded by the Pistons along with an undisclosed amount of cash to the Philadelphia 76ers for Derrick Coleman and Amal McCaskill on August 8, 2004, he was again traded back to the Kings along with Brian Skinner and Kenny Thomas for power forward Chris Webber on February 22, 2005.^[5]

Williamson has the distinction of being one of the few professional basketball players to win national championships at three different levels, AAU, the NCAA with Arkansas, and the NBA with Detroit.

Coaching[link]

Williamson announced his retirement in September 2007 to become an assistant coach at Arkansas Baptist College.^[6]

On March 11, 2010, Williamson was announced the men's head basketball coach at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas.

References[link]

External links[link]

• NBA Player Profile
• http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3088