BOISE, ID — When you think Boise State Athletics, most sports-minds will jump right to football, but one Bronco athlete is showing the city that basketball can be king too,
and he's doing that all while he follows his dream of becoming a cardiologist.
Let's meet Boise State University Men's Basketball Superstar, RJ Williams!
Williams was born and raised in Los Angeles by his single mother and seven sisters.
"It was easy. I mean some days were harder than others, but at the end of the day, it was fun. I had all that love and support around me, I felt like I could do anything," said BSU Junior Guard RJ Williams.
The junior bounced around a few colleges before landing at Boise State in 2018. so far this season, he's the team's leading scorer and rebounder, but didn't even play team sports until midway through high school.
"Tenth grade I was about six-one, I was six-one. I remember cause like I was happy when I woke up and I was just super big. I was like whoa, I wasn't like this last night!" said Williams.
But it was his freshman year of college when his body decided basketball will definitely be a great fit for him.
"I shot up to like 6'5, and then my sophomore year I just grew again, so hopefully I got another one of those. Those growth spurts are something!" said Williams.
The now six-foot-seven junior had plenty of offers to play for division one schools, but knew Boise State was for him after visiting.
"When I came here, you know, just the success of the program, the success of the coaches, the environment, you know, there's just success everywhere so it was like a no-brainer," said WIlliams.
Success not just on the court, but in the healthcare system as well with his eventual plans to be a cardiologist. This after being inspired as a child by former neurosurgeon and one-time presidential candidate Ben Carson.
"I've seen some of the stuff that he went through and had to go through and it was like dang, that's kind of me. So after I was done reading the book, I just fell in love with everything about it like nano-physiology, so I just went crazy for it and I thought, ooh I found my purpose while I'm here, you know? It's to help others. So I kind of fell in love with it and still am today," said Williams.
But before becoming Dr. Williams, the current communications major has a few other matters to handle while here in the city of trees.
All while keeping one thing in mind.
"Anybody can be successful on the court but the way you do it, the way you're perceived, I wanna make sure I do it the right way at the end of the day," said Williams.
Next up, RJ and the 7-8 Boise State Men's Basketball Team will face San Jose State before playing a home game against Nevada on Tuesday.
