Grant Williams of Boston Celtics is guest speaker at Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame

Former Tennessee basketball star Grant Williams of the Boston Celtics will be the guest speaker at the 42nd annual Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The event is scheduled for Aug. 31 at the Knoxville Convention Center. Reception starts at 5 p.m. and program starts at 6:30.

Williams was picked with the No. 22 overall selection by the Celtics in the 2019 NBA Draft.

PLAYING FOR CELTICS: How Tennessee product Grant Williams grew into ‘Swiss Army knife’ role as Celtics rookie

Williams averaged 18.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his final season at UT. He earned consensus All-American honors, joining Dale Ellis (1982-83 season) and Bernard King (1976-77 season) as the only Vols to do so.

The Charlotte, N.C., native won back-to-back SEC Player of the Year awards and is one of only 10 players to win the award in consecutive seasons.

Williams was a mid-level recruit, brought to Tennessee as part of a program-changing 2016 recruiting class. He made an impact early in his career, averaging 12.6 points per game with 29 starts.

He earned SEC All-Freshman honors, which was just the beginning of his achievements at UT.

Williams dominated his sophomore season, leading Tennessee with 15.2 points per game as the Vols won a share of the SEC regular-season title. He split the SEC Player of the Year award with Georgia’s Yante Maten but won it outright as a junior.

Now in his fourth season with the Celtics, Williams averaged a career-high 8.9 points per game and 4.6 rebounds in 2022-23. He also appeared in a career-high 78 games this season and started 23, also a career best.

The Celtics are playing the Miami Heat in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

The class of 2023 for the hall of fame has not yet been announced.

Limited seating available. Tickets are $200 or you can purchase a table of 10 for $2,000. All ticket and auction proceeds benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, which serves over 7,200 youth and teens at 22 Club locations in Knox, Blount, Loudon, Anderson, and Claiborne counties.

Visit www.gkshof.org for tickets.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Grant Williams is guest speaker at Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame