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There's no greater feeling for a coach than to see a player they developed rise from relative obscurity to stardom.
Sam Duane Jr. donned an Oklahoma City Thunder cap at courtside to witness his former Perry High School standout Jalen Williams lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 125-112 win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, April 9, at PHX Arena.
“All his hard work paying off that we’re seeing, he’s put in since his young days of junior high and high school, college, and then now the results we’re seeing are fun to watch," Duane told The Arizona Republic during the game.
The All-Star forward Williams delivered a game-high 33 points, seven rebounds, team-high five assists, and three steals for the Thunder, which has the NBA's best record. In the process, he helped eliminate Phoenix from play-in contention and a chance at the playoffs.
Williams stepped up for an OKC team playing without MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (shin), starter and Arizona State product Lu Dort (knee) and several other Thunder teammates.
“He really set the culture in our program,” Duane said about Jalen. “We lost in the final four his senior year and set the tone for the future teams and got it going, him and the guys that were with him. So a lot of our success is really to Jalen building that culture, trusting in us as coaches.”
OKC is the league's youngest team (average player age 24.1 years old) and No. 1 ranked defense. Two-thirds of their top trio of Williams and versatile 7-footer Chet Holmgren (22 points, game-high 10 boards, four assists) outdueled Devin Booker and Bradley Beal in the second half. The Suns, playing without Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) lost their season-worst eighth straight game. Booker had 17 points and a game-high 14 assists, while Beal scored 25.
"Those are two elite players so it’s more like let’s test ourselves and see where we are with them," Williams said about facing Booker and Beal. "That’s what we’ve kind of been doing all year because no matter the matchup ... When you got two guys like that, they can completely turn the tide of a basketball game. Book’s had 70 in a game, Beal’s had big scoring nights so we always try to challenge ourselves up to that and see where we match up.”
In his third season out of mid-major Santa Clara, Williams has an 18.1-point career average. He's averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists this season with .484/.365/.789 splits.
"He’s still improving, and he’s a completely different player than he was at the beginning of the season, and a lot of the investments that he made early in the season and even into the summer, the force he’s played with, pull-up 3s, increased his 3-point volume, all that stuff seems to be coming together for him right now and I’m happy for him and he’s stuck with it," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said about Williams.
Williams has put up a 27-point average in his four total games for OKC at Phoenix.
He graduated from Perry High School in Gilbert in 2019, just as the Pumas were building into a perennial title contender under Duane, who took over the program in the 2016-17 season after a championship run at Tempe's Corona del Sol. Williams never won a title with Perry, which was eliminated in the 6A semifinals his senior year by Pinnacle.
The Pumas went on to win four straight AIA championships after he graduated, from 2022 through 2025. His younger brother, Cody Williams, now with the Utah Jazz, was part of two of those in 2022 and '23.
Jalen Williams appreciated Duane crediting him for his alma mater's dynasty and reciprocated that for his life and love of the game.
"I think they prepared me, even for the NBA now without them even knowing how I carry myself as a man," said Williams, who was selected as an NBA All-Star for the first time this season. "Just learning how to grow up and be organized. They just taught me stuff that had nothing to do with basketball and they made my college transition easier and just kind of stuck with me when I was underrecruited. Just going through my high school process and obviously Duane’s the greatest coach to come out of here with so many rings."
Williams said he doesn't get sentimental when he returns to face the Suns because he didn't root for Phoenix while living in the Valley. But there are plenty of fond memories of learning the game in the Valley and attending WNBA games.
"I grew up a Laker fan, so I guess this area is not really special to me,'' he said after the April 9 game. "I think growing up here is cool. I don't take it for granted, for sure. There have been a lot of, like, camps I used to do here, and, like, my mom used to take me to Mercury games all the time when the L.A. Sparks played."
Williams further explained, "So, it's cool to come back into this gym and be able to play there. So, I definitely don't take that for granted. But I think I'm just past motivation of playing here. I try and find like, other ways to be motivated and tonight, like Shai and Lu didn't play and Case-O (Cason Wallace) didn't play. So just trying to find more motivation to like kind of will us to a W."
He made clear, however, that he remains proud of the winning culture at Perry he was part of under Duane, who announced he was stepping down as coach after this year's third straight Open Division championship win to cement its dynasty. The first of the four was in 6A before the Open was added. Arizona Wildcats commit Koa Peat, a senior and top national recruit, led that team and likely will end up in the NBA with the Williams brothers.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Thunder's Jalen Williams credits his NBA rise to ex-Perry coach
Continue reading...
Sam Duane Jr. donned an Oklahoma City Thunder cap at courtside to witness his former Perry High School standout Jalen Williams lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 125-112 win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, April 9, at PHX Arena.
“All his hard work paying off that we’re seeing, he’s put in since his young days of junior high and high school, college, and then now the results we’re seeing are fun to watch," Duane told The Arizona Republic during the game.
The All-Star forward Williams delivered a game-high 33 points, seven rebounds, team-high five assists, and three steals for the Thunder, which has the NBA's best record. In the process, he helped eliminate Phoenix from play-in contention and a chance at the playoffs.
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Williams stepped up for an OKC team playing without MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (shin), starter and Arizona State product Lu Dort (knee) and several other Thunder teammates.
“He really set the culture in our program,” Duane said about Jalen. “We lost in the final four his senior year and set the tone for the future teams and got it going, him and the guys that were with him. So a lot of our success is really to Jalen building that culture, trusting in us as coaches.”
OKC is the league's youngest team (average player age 24.1 years old) and No. 1 ranked defense. Two-thirds of their top trio of Williams and versatile 7-footer Chet Holmgren (22 points, game-high 10 boards, four assists) outdueled Devin Booker and Bradley Beal in the second half. The Suns, playing without Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) lost their season-worst eighth straight game. Booker had 17 points and a game-high 14 assists, while Beal scored 25.
"Those are two elite players so it’s more like let’s test ourselves and see where we are with them," Williams said about facing Booker and Beal. "That’s what we’ve kind of been doing all year because no matter the matchup ... When you got two guys like that, they can completely turn the tide of a basketball game. Book’s had 70 in a game, Beal’s had big scoring nights so we always try to challenge ourselves up to that and see where we match up.”
In his third season out of mid-major Santa Clara, Williams has an 18.1-point career average. He's averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists this season with .484/.365/.789 splits.
"He’s still improving, and he’s a completely different player than he was at the beginning of the season, and a lot of the investments that he made early in the season and even into the summer, the force he’s played with, pull-up 3s, increased his 3-point volume, all that stuff seems to be coming together for him right now and I’m happy for him and he’s stuck with it," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said about Williams.
Williams has put up a 27-point average in his four total games for OKC at Phoenix.
He graduated from Perry High School in Gilbert in 2019, just as the Pumas were building into a perennial title contender under Duane, who took over the program in the 2016-17 season after a championship run at Tempe's Corona del Sol. Williams never won a title with Perry, which was eliminated in the 6A semifinals his senior year by Pinnacle.
The Pumas went on to win four straight AIA championships after he graduated, from 2022 through 2025. His younger brother, Cody Williams, now with the Utah Jazz, was part of two of those in 2022 and '23.
Jalen Williams appreciated Duane crediting him for his alma mater's dynasty and reciprocated that for his life and love of the game.
"I think they prepared me, even for the NBA now without them even knowing how I carry myself as a man," said Williams, who was selected as an NBA All-Star for the first time this season. "Just learning how to grow up and be organized. They just taught me stuff that had nothing to do with basketball and they made my college transition easier and just kind of stuck with me when I was underrecruited. Just going through my high school process and obviously Duane’s the greatest coach to come out of here with so many rings."
Williams said he doesn't get sentimental when he returns to face the Suns because he didn't root for Phoenix while living in the Valley. But there are plenty of fond memories of learning the game in the Valley and attending WNBA games.
"I grew up a Laker fan, so I guess this area is not really special to me,'' he said after the April 9 game. "I think growing up here is cool. I don't take it for granted, for sure. There have been a lot of, like, camps I used to do here, and, like, my mom used to take me to Mercury games all the time when the L.A. Sparks played."
Williams further explained, "So, it's cool to come back into this gym and be able to play there. So, I definitely don't take that for granted. But I think I'm just past motivation of playing here. I try and find like, other ways to be motivated and tonight, like Shai and Lu didn't play and Case-O (Cason Wallace) didn't play. So just trying to find more motivation to like kind of will us to a W."
He made clear, however, that he remains proud of the winning culture at Perry he was part of under Duane, who announced he was stepping down as coach after this year's third straight Open Division championship win to cement its dynasty. The first of the four was in 6A before the Open was added. Arizona Wildcats commit Koa Peat, a senior and top national recruit, led that team and likely will end up in the NBA with the Williams brothers.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Thunder's Jalen Williams credits his NBA rise to ex-Perry coach
Continue reading...
