williams played four seasons of college basketball for uc santa barbara between 2011 and 2015, finishing his career as the gauchos' all-time leader in rebounds and second all-time leading scorer. as a junior in 2013–14, he was named the big west conference player of the year. he also earned first-team all-big west honors as a sophomore, junior and senior, and led the ncaa in rebounding as a junior and senior. in 112 games (101 starts) over his four-year career, williams averaged 15.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.9 blocks in 27.0 minutes per game.