WKU Men’s Basketball redshirt senior Carson Williams was selected as one of 30 Senior CLASS Award® candidates for the 2020-21 season.

The student-athletes selected have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

Since transferring to WKU from Northern Kentucky he currently holds a 4.0 GPA in his master’s program after graduating in the fall of 2019 with undergraduate degrees in criminology and sociology. In 2020, Williams was named to the Conference USA Men’s Basketball All-Academic Team and was on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.

On the court, Williams has started in 46 of his 47 contests at WKU. In 2019-20, he stepped up in the absence of front court partner Charles Bassey to average 14.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while often undersized and outmatched against taller, stronger opponents. He also netted 23 of 59 shots from behind the arc and was named to the Conference USA All-Conference Third Team.

Currently, Williams is averaging 6.8 points and 5.6 rebounds. In his last three games, the forward is averaging 13 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 50% overall and from the 3-point line, as well as 79% from the free-throw line. 

Between his time at NKU and here on the Hill, Williams has scored 1,300 points and pulled down 680 rebounds while shooting 56.7% from the field. 

Williams participated in community services activities with his teammates including two United Way Days of Caring, a full day of community service where WKU student-athletes volunteer time to play with children from the community. He has also volunteered with the team to put on practices with Camp Happy Days, a program for people with special needs from the Bowling Green community.

Since its inception, numerous WKU student-athletes have been named as candidates and finalists for their respective sport’s Senior CLASS Award. 

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The list of candidates for the Award will be narrowed to 10 finalists in late February, and those names will be placed on an official ballot. Ballots will be distributed to media, coaches and fans who will select the candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C’s. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men’s Final Four in the upcoming months.

Men’s basketball beat reporter & columnist Kaden Gaylord can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Kaden on Twitter at @_KLG3.