A Los Angeles playground legend, Freeman Williams was an All-LA City basketball selection in 1974 at Manual Arts HS and featured in the documentary “Inner City Champions” about the Manual Arts High School basketball program, including fellow honoree Dwayne Polee Sr. A scoring machine, the 6-4 Williams played college ball at Portland State, and twice led the nation in scoring (38.8 ppg. in 1977 and 35.9 in 1978) without the benefit of the three-point shot. In 1978, he beat out Larry Bird for the NCAA scoring title. He was a two-time All-American in 1977 & 1978, and scored 81 points in a single college game in 1978. He was the NBA number eight first round selection by the Boston Celtics, and played six years in the league, starting with the San Diego Clippers.

His finest season was 1980-81, when he averaged 19.3 points per game. He finished in the NBA top 10 for three-point field goals in three consecutive seasons. Williams played a year in the Philippine’s Pro League, and once scored 82 points in a game with 10 three-pointers before retiring. To this day, Freeman Williams is the NCAA men’s basketball third all-time leading scorer (3,249 points) with number one being another legend, “Pistol” Pete Maravich (3,667 pts). Williams was selected in 2017 for the LA City Athletes Hall of Fame. He passed away April 19, 2022.