Michael Williams Inducted to Baylor Hall of Fame
3/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2002
WACO, Texas - Michael Williams became the 131st member of Baylor's Athletic Hall of Fame on March 2. He was introduced at halftime of the Baylor-Texas Tech basketball game and received thunderous applause not unlike the cheers he heard as a Baylor Bear hoops star a dozen years ago. Later, he was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame during a ceremony in the "B" Room at Floyd Casey Stadium.
Emcee for the occasion was coach Jim Haller, who had recruited Williams for Baylor. Dr. Darryl Lehnus, who was also on the coaching staff when Michael arrived at Baylor in 1985, brought greetings from the Baylor Athletic Department where he is now Associate Athletic Director for Marketing.
"B" Association President Knox Pittard welcomed guests and Dr. W.J. Wimpee, Baylor's Chaplain Emeritus, offered the invocation.
In his introduction Haller recounted many of Williams' accomplishments at Dallas Carter High School, at Baylor and in the National Basketball Association. Reciprocating, Michael expressed his gratitude to his family, his coaches, fellow players and to Baylor University.
The program ended with "That Good Old Baylor Line" led by former Baylor Alumni Association President Art Coltharp.
Before coming to Baylor, Michael played at Dallas Carter High School. In 1984 he averaged 30.9 points per game, was the top scorer in the 5-A Division, made 91 percent of his free throws and scored 61 points in one playoff game in Waco.
Michael was first-team all-district and player of the year in District 11 5-A. The Dallas Morning News listed him among its Top 20 Basketball Recruits in Texas and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had him in its Top 25.
Michael was named all-state by the Texas Sportswriters Association, while the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches named him second-team all-state. Nationally, he was a high school all-american selection for Street and Smith Magazine and an honorable mention all-American in Parade Magazine.
After he had selected Baylor, Michael played in the Coaches Hall of Fame game where he was selected Most Valuable Player. At Baylor he played for Haller in 1985 and under coach Gene Iba in 1986-87-88. As a freshman, he started all 16 Southwest Conference games and was named to the SWC Newcomer team. The Associated Press selected him as the best of the newcomers by naming him the SWC Freshman of the Year. Nationally, the AP placed him on its Freshman All-America Second Team.
As a sophomore, Williams again started all 16 conference games while continuing to improve his skills. In his junior year, he led the SWC in steals with 93 (sixth in the nation), was third in scoring with an average of 17.2 points per game and was fourth in assists with 157 - leading him to being named first team all-SWC and honorable mention all-America. In the same year the Bears played in the finals of the SWC Tournament and later in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
In 1988, as he approached his senior season, Williams had an opportunity to make a sizeable dent in the Baylor Record Book - including career scoring, most field goals, most free throws, most assists and most steals.
Michael and the Bears had a great season but again lost in the conference tournament finals, but Williams was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He later was all-conference and all-American and led the Bears into the 64-team NCAA Tournament, where they were eliminated in an early game.
Williams led the Bears in steals and was the team's leading free-throw shooter all four years at Baylor. He held Baylor's steals record at 282, free throws with 488 and assists with 464. He was second in career scoring and field goals made. He is still second in scoring (1,854), second in assists (464) and third in field goals made.
Michael played on Baylor teams that scored the most points in a season (2,393), made the most free throws (541) and had the highest-three point field goal percentage (.385).
(And just to show that the teams Michael played on were human, one of them recorded Baylor's largest number of turnovers in a season.)
For his outstanding play, Williams was selected by Dave Campbell on the All-Time All-SWC Baylor Basketball Team. He was drafted by Detroit in the NBA and played for the Pistons and several other teams over the next 10 seasons. He still holds the NBA record for consecutive free throws (91).
Today Williams has business interests in several cities, including Detroit, but he has chosen to live in Colleyville, in the Fort Worth-Dallas area, with his wife Deborah and the couple's children, Marrielle and Amari.
