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HAMILTON, Ontario — For Canadian hoopers, the road to success is often incredibly challenging, and unconventional in nature. Generally speaking, it鈥檚 a lot harder for Canadian basketball players to earn the attention of college scouts, despite the improved resources and scouting services available for Canadian athletes. And nobody embodies this eternal grind more than Coastal Carolina鈥檚, Reaudale 鈥楻udi鈥� Williams.

Williams was born on August 13, 1998 in Hamilton, Ontario, where he grew up and spent the majority of his youth career before moving on to collegiate action. The 6鈥�3鈥� guard dominated during his short (but successful) stint in his hometown, with Reaudale often being regarded as one of Sir Allan McNabb Secondary School’s best players. A Hamilton-based school that鈥檚 renowned for developing high-level recruits.

Roughly halfway through high school (2016), Rudi was scouted by Forest Trail Academy in North Carolina, a prep school with a lengthy history of recruiting some of the nation鈥檚 top athletes.

After taking over the scene at Forest Trail Academy in his final two years, Williams landed a spot on a well-rounded NE Oklahoma A&M team playing right in the middle of Big 12 country. While he did miss out on the NCAA route initially, Reaudale鈥檚 perseverance and dedication pushed him to pursue his passion, and enter the JUCO portal in 2018.

Williams made an immediate impact with Northeastern by leading The Golden Norse to a 29-3 record in his freshman year, earning the team a trip to the 2019 NJCAA National Tournament. At the highly popularized event, Rudi averaged 12.9 points, 8.3 assists, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, helping to cement his place among the JUCO elite. He proceeded to cap off his first year with the team with 11 double-doubles, two triple-doubles, and a total of 13 double-assist games.

In Williams final season with the team (2019-20), he was tasked with a much larger role, and (as expected) thrived brilliantly. In his sophomore year, Rudi improved his averages to 21 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds per game in 29 starts. Doing so much as to lead Northeastern Oklahoma A&M to an inspiring 25-7 record, as well as countless individual accolades earned along the way.

Reaudale鈥檚 remarkable display on the hardwood made him the Region Player of the Year, a Junior College All-American and landed the team 23rd in the final NJCAA rankings. As if this wasn鈥檛 impressive enough, Williams also led the NJCAA in total assists, and led his team in scoring, field goals made/attempted, free throws made/attempted, free throw percentage, assists, steals, and minutes played.

In both his 2018-19, and his 2019-20 year, Williams finished among the NJCAAs Top-5 in assists, and assists per game, dishing out a school-record 492 assists in his two-year JUCO career.

However, regardless of Rudi鈥檚 exceptional status in Junior College, his journey from the NCJAA to Division 1 basketball was by no means a 鈥榗onventional recruitment process鈥�. Without even a visit to Manhattan, Kansas, Kansas State鈥檚 head coach Bruce Weber relied simply on video to scout and evaluate one of the top JUCO talents in the nation, who was fending off offers from numerous other mid-majors when the Wildcats came calling in 2020 including Washington State most notably.

With two seasons of JUCO under Rudi鈥檚 belt, his drive and experience were expected to complement the rest of the program鈥檚 seven-man recruiting class. And in Rudi鈥檚 lone season with Kansas State, he played in 27 games (started in 4) averaging 18 minutes, five points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.4 steals per game. Finishing 5th on the team in 3-point field goals, and connecting on over 73% of his shots from the line for the Wildcats.

Williams鈥� year with Kansas State was largely successful, given the squad鈥檚 depth of recruits, lineup fluctuation, and performance the season prior (last in the conference). Not to mention trying to navigate through all the COVID-19 protocols. The Wildcats finished the 2020-21 season winning 4 of their last 6 games, including battling the eventual national champion; Baylor Bears, in a tough 74-68 loss in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship.

However, in order to remain eligible for the 2021-22 NCAA season, and continue his dream of Division 1 glory, Rudi Williams chose to pursue a much bigger role this past summer with Coastal Carolina.

The Hamilton-native recently spoke on the transfer decision,

鈥淚 just wanted to find a perfect fit for me. The fit over in Manhattan, it was pretty good. It was okay, but it wasn鈥檛 the greatest, so I figured I鈥檇 have to make a move until I reach my full potential.鈥�

After reportedly being contacted by numerous schools, such as Oregon State, BYU, Georgia, Eastern Kentucky, Boise State, and Cal-Riverside (to name a few), he finally settled on the coastal campus in Carolina.

Coastal Carolina is a competitive D1 program on the rise, and without question one of the most talented units in the entire Sun Belt Conference. Plus, the team was only 3 points away from making the NCAA Tournament in 2021. So, it makes sense that Rudi had his eyes on the up-and-coming program, especially since he鈥檚 already got his sights set on March Madness in 2022.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to my next stop, somewhere I can move forward and go and win鈥� I get to find the best version of myself and help my team get better. Next year this time, I hope to be playing in March.鈥� in March 2021 before his official decision to join Coastal Carolina.

The Chanticleers鈥� head coach, Cliff Ellis, also for the Canadian newcomer;

鈥淲e are really excited to have Rudi join us here at Coastal Carolina. We recruited him out of junior college and then he got great experience in the Big 12 last season. Rudi is a natural leader on the court who can really score and pass. He just has a really good basketball IQ.鈥�

It鈥檚 true. Rudi Williams has already proven his ability to score, and pass at an elite level, and as his NCAA experience grows, so too will his prowess on the court. There鈥檚 no denying that Coastal Carolina enters the 2021-22 NCAA season with tremendous optimism, and Rudi Williams seems to be in the best spot of his young career to make an impact with the program.

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