Christian Williams leaves Iowa basketball

IOWA CITY — When the Iowa men's basketball team tips off for its season-opening exhibition Friday night against William Jewell College, it will be without junior guard Christian Williams.

Iowa officials confirmed Thursday night the Decatur, Ill., native has left the Hawkeyes and will transfer from Iowa after completing this academic semester.

'Christian informed me today of his decision,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said in a statement released on the Iowa athletics website. 'Christian is a terrific young man with tremendous character. We are disappointed that Christian will no longer be a Hawkeye, but the players and coaches wish him the best in his future endeavors.'

Williams leaves Iowa just more than two weeks before the official start of the 2017-18 men's basketball season. In two seasons and 54 games, Williams averaged 2 points, 1.1 assists and 1.3 rebounds as a Hawkeye. He started six games last season before Jordan Bohannon took over starting point guard duties, and averaged 2.4 points, 1.6 assists, 1.6 rebounds and shot 34.8 percent from the field.

'After careful consideration and discussions with my family, I have asked for my release from the University of Iowa,' Williams said in the same statement on Iowa's website. 'I would like to finish my athletic and academic goals closer to home. I would like to thank coach McCaffery and my teammates for their understanding and support with this decision.'

While his minutes were relatively inconsistent throughout the season, Williams' calling card became his individual defensive skills. He had three steals in three separate games, including at Michigan State.

Williams competed in this summer's Prime Time League, and also played during Iowa's European trip to Germany, Switzerland and Italy. He averaged six points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and one steal in those four games in Europe.

At the end of PTL, Williams told The Gazette he was trying to get the most out of this summer because the loss of Peter Jok from the guard group meant he, Bohannon, Isaiah Moss, Brady Ellingson and Maishe Dailey were going to have to collectively make up for a the biggest portion of their scoring from a year ago.

Williams said in July he liked how his summer had gone to that point, highlighting he felt he 'was a lot more aggressive than I've been in past years.'

'I know we all know the minutes are there, obviously,' Williams told The Gazette in July. 'Once practice comes, we're all competing, trying to get that time. Once the season comes to us, we'll try to figure that out.

'I think we have the right guys and pieces to do that. We have a lot of talent and a lot of smart guys. We have upperclassmen now, so we all know what we're doing. We're looking forward to getting the season going.'

Williams' exit leaves a hole in the guard rotation, but it could be filled by freshman Connor McCaffery. McCaffery initially intended on redshirting his freshman year and focusing on baseball, but Williams' exit could force the four-star recruit and son of head coach Fran McCaffery into service sooner.

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