Jaron Williams
Coming out of high school in 2019, Jaron Williams of Anchorage turned down the Seawolves because he wanted to experience life outside of Alaska.
He went to Spokane Community College and asserted himself as one of the best defenders in the NWAC while averaging 14.1 points in 65 career games.
The allure of coming home loomed large, but he had no guarantees.
Then he got a letter from UAA men’s basketball assistant coach Ryan Orton, the chief recruiter for longtime head coach Rusty Osborne.
“I will never forget,” Williams said. “It was a letter from Coach Orton about how he liked my game. Nothing too crazy. But I always knew they liked the way I played and they wanted me to come there, but just seeing how they followed me through the NWAC these past three years was big.”
When the UAA coaches presented Williams a chance to come home, the 6-foot-4 guard jumped at the chance.
“They showed how much they really care about me and how big of an opportunity it could be for me to play for their program,” he said. “Honestly, it means a lot. I’m actually very grateful to the coaches.”
Williams, of East High fame, comes to UAA after building his chops in the NWAC, where he showcased himself one of the premier players in the league.
He was especially effective on the defensive end, utilizing his length and strength against opponent’s top scoring threats.
“It’s just fun to stop the best player on the other team, honestly,” he said.
Anchorage’s Jaron Williams is a two-time All-Defensive Team pick in the NWAC. Photo by Libby Kamrowski / The Spokesman-Review
“Holding a 20-point scorer to 10 points is literally the best feeling in the world,” Williams said, “knowing that you stopped the best scorer on the other team and hopefully your team won the game because of it.”
As a freshman, he was named East Region Defensive Player of the Year, earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team and was voted First Team All-NWAC.
As a sophomore, he was named to the All-Defensive Team, produced his first 30-point game in February and buried the game-winning free throws with 5 seconds left to lift Spokane to a victory at the NWAC Tournament in March.
UPSET ALERT 🚨 #4 @CCSpokAthletics defeat #1 @LCCRedDevils 64-63 after Jaron Williams sinks 2 free throws with 5 seconds remaining! Williams finishes with 16 points, 9 rebounds.
What a finish! 😱#NWACmbb pic.twitter.com/Er3sP7ziXN
— NWAC (@NWACSports) March 17, 2022
“Going to the NWAC really helped me work on what I really needed to work on,” said Williams, who was a Second Team All-State pick for East in 2019. “It’s a smaller program, so I got to shine a little bit more while working on the stuff that I needed to work on.
“I can’t wait to show UAA what I can do.”
The Seawolves now have three Alaskans (Williams, Evan Hoosier, Da’Zhon Wyche) who were all-state players in high school. Wyche, the Class 4A Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016, announced last week that he will transfer from Texas-Tyler to come home and play for UAA.
Wyche owns 1,498 career points at the collegiate level; Williams sits at 919. In high school, Wyche was a senior at West when Williams was a freshman at East. Williams got called up to varsity late in the season and faced off against Wyche one time.
Now they will be college teammates representing Rage City.
“I know this is going to be good,” Williams said. “We’re pretty close off the court and we’ve talked about, like, ‘Hey man, we can really make this happen, so let’s do it.’”
Dazhon & Jaron going to UAA is 🔥 a west side kid & a east side kid, something the city needed for sure. That’s legendary fr
— Jalil Abdul-Bassit (@ValidJab) April 6, 2022
“I know there’s going to be a lot of pressure. Everybody is going to want to see me and Da’Zhon do our thing, but at the end of the day, I know everyone is going to support us regardless, so I’m just really excited to get this going.”
Williams grew up watching the Seawolves at the Great Alaska Shootout and in the GNAC. He went to games with his dad and brother.
“It was fun to just go check them out,” he said.
Now people will come check him out. Williams, like Wyche, is another popular player from the city.
“It’ll be good to bring out some crowds. It’s going to be nice, for sure,” he said.
Williams is especially excited to play home games in front of his mom and dad.
“I know they were tired of buying tickets to Spokane,” Williams said with a laugh. “Now they can just drive up the street to watch me play. It means a lot of them, but it also means a lot to me.”