CONWAY, S.C. – Former Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball standout DJ Williams will start her professional basketball career overseas as she has signed with Pallacanestro Lucca in Italy, it was recently announced. 

Williams was named the 2019-20 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year last season, as she led the Chanticleers to a program-record 25 wins.

The guard from Moreno Valley, Calif., became just the third Chanticleer to win a conference player of the year award and the first since Alisha Dill in 2006-07. She is the first Coastal player to be named to the All-Sun Belt first team twice, having been named to the first team both in 2018-19 and 2019-20. She also earned All-Sun Belt second team honors in 2017-18.

Over her senior season, Williams averaged 19.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.4 steals per contest to lead the CCU offense. She finished the season atop of the Sun Belt Conference in scoring average, free throw attempts (210), free throws made (163), steals (68), and steals per game. She also ranked second in the league in assists with 149 and third in double-doubles with 11 on the year.

Williams highlighted her season when she scored a career-high 51 points in the 124-103 win over Troy on Feb. 13 to break a 34-year-old school record for the most points by a Chant in a single game. She followed that up with just the third triple-double in school history against South Alabama two days later. For her play that week, she was named the USBWA National Player of the Week, ESPNW’s National Player of the Week, and the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week.

In her career at CCU, Williams led the team in assist and steals three times and in scoring in each of her last two seasons. She finished her career second in Coastal women’s basketball history in career scoring average (15.4 ppg), second in assists (415), second in free throws attempted (615), second in free throws made (442), third in points (1,582), fifth in field goals made (552), and fifth in steals (200).

Courtesy – Coastal Carolina Athletics