Musselman adds big man late

St. John’s senior grad transfer commits to Nevada, per school

It appeared third-year coach Eric Musselman was prepared to go into the 2017-18 season with one center, maybe two, if Jordan Caroline slid down in certain lineups.

And that one was Elijah Foster, who missed the final four months of last season after an arrest stemming from a domestic battery charge. That charge was later dropped and he plead guilty to a lesser charge.

Musselman added another big man, in every sense of the word, last Wednesday when the school announced the addition of St. John’s senior grad transfer Darien Williams. Williams will be eligible immediately.

Williams will be the tallest player on the team at 6-8, and five pounds from the heaviest at 235.

He is the sixth transfer (Jazz Johnson – Portland, Nisre Zouzou – Bryant, Marqueze Letcher-Ellis – Rice, Tra’Shawn Thurman – Omaha, Marcel Pettway – Bryant) to join the team since March, but the only one who will not have to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules. His scholarship spot became available after senior Leland King announced his plan to transfer out of Nevada last month.

“We are so excited about Darien joining our program,” Musselman said. “As soon as we started recruiting him, it seemed like all of the boxes were checked. He is what we like to call an O-K-G, ‘Our Kinda Guy.’ He is a high character young man with a great personality.”

With the Red Storm, Williams averaged three points and three rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game. Williams also played at Iowa Western Community College during the 2013-14 season and was on the team at the City College of San Francisco, although he sat out with an injury.

At Iowa Western, Williams netted a team-high 16.1 points and hauled in 6.7 rebounds per game. The numbers earned him All-Region honors, helping lead the team to a 23-8 record and a No. 3 national ranking.

Born in San Francisco, Williams played his high school ball at St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif. He helped lead his team to the 2013 California Southern Section Championship as a senior and earned All-Area honors.

Williams will join Foster and Caroline, as well as twin brothers Caleb and Cody Martin, in the front court. It appears there will not be any additional walk-on depth at the position as 6-8 Damonte Ranch grad John Carlson is no longer present on the team’s online roster. As of now, sophomore Charlie Tooley and freshman John Jones (both guards) will be the only eligible walk-on players for the upcoming season.