NORFOLK, Va. – One of more than a dozen former Norfolk State men’s basketball players who competed professionally last year, guard Pendarvis Williams will continue his career this upcoming season in Italy. He recently signed with Teate Basket Chiete of the third-tier level Serie B Basket league.
Williams will return to Italy, where he played for two teams over three seasons early on in his professional career. He has also played in Germany and France and had a stint with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA G League since finishing his time at Norfolk State in 2014.
Most recently, Williams competed for J.A. Vichy-Clermont Métropole of the Pro B league in France in 2019-20, the second-tier level league in the country. He averaged 12.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He spent the previous season with BG Göttingen in Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga in 2018-19.
He also played two non-consecutive seasons with Fortitudo Agrigento and one season with Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna, both in Italy. Obiettivo competes at the highest level in Italian basketball.
The 2013 MEAC Player of the Year, Williams was a three-time All-MEAC performer with the Spartans and helped lead them to the 2012 MEAC title. He scored 20 points as a sophomore that year in NSU’s upset of No. 2 seed Missouri in the NCAA Tournament. He was a two-time all-state player and earned AP Honorable Mention as a senior in 2014.
Only three other former NSU players who finished their careers before Williams were still active last year in the professional ranks. One of those three players is Kyle O’Quinn, who is in the midst of his eighth season in the NBA, his first with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Williams and O’Quinn were two of a total of 15 former NSU players who competed professionally at some point during the 2019-20 season. Below is the rest of the list of players and were they competed, with stats if available. Numerous players joined Williams in Europe.
– Anell Alexis competed for EN Basketball Schwelm of the ProB league in Germany. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game last year.
– Ed Seward competed for Cuxhaven Baskets of the second Regionalliga division in Germany. He owns the distinction as the longest-tenured player, as he finished his NSU career in 2002.
– Jordan Butler competed for Chernomorets Burgas of the National Basketball League (NBL) of Bulgaria.
– Stavian Allen also saw action in Bulgaria and then later KK Promo Donji Vakuf in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s A1 liga. He tallied 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in his limited time with KK Promo
– Preston Bungei competed in the same league with Allen in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He averaged a double-double of 13.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists with HKK Capljina Lasta.
– Jonathan Wade spent time in Kosovo with Sigal Prishtina in the Kosovo Basketball Superleague.
– Alex Long (North Macedonia) was also in the Balkans, North Macedonia to be specific, with Akademija FMP Skopje in the Macedonian First League. He averaged 11.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.
– Derrik Jamerson Jr. joined Butler and Long as a first-year pro, seeing time in Austria with UBSC Raiffeisen Graz of the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga. In his time with the team, he tallied 13.5 points and 2.9 rebounds and shot 49 percent from 3-point range.
– Kyle Williams was the 10th different Spartan to compete in Europe. He started the year in Iceland but ended the year in Spain with Basket Navarra of the LEB Plata division. In his short time in Spain, he averaged 7.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
– Dan Robinson earned time in Central America in the early part of the season with Club de Baloncesto Cojute of the Liga Superior de BKB in El Salvador.
– Chris McEachin was in Iraq with Al-Khtot Al-Jawiya of the Iraq Superleague. Along with O’Quinn, he is the second-oldest active player behind Seward. Both McEachin and O’Quinn finished their NSU careers in 2012.
– Hefeng Sun was in his home country of China with the Zhuhai Wolf Warriors of the ASEAN Basketball League.
– D’Shon Taylor was also in his home country, the Bahamas. He competed for the Commonwealth Bank Giants of the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA), averaging 14.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists for the Giants.
Pendarvis Williams will join Jermaine Bishop, who competed for the Spartans this past year, in playing overseas this upcoming year. Bishop recently signed with Phoenix Hagen in Germany. More information will be released on upcoming signings of other former NSU players as it becomes available.
Courtesy: NSU Athletics
