Ray Williams, a former basketball star with the Gophers and 10th player selected overall in the 1977 NBA draft, has died of cancer, the Star Tribune reports.
Williams was 58.
The Star Tribune cited a tweet from a New Jersey Knicks beat writer for NorthJersey.com for providing the information about Williams, who played five of his 10 seasons in the NBA with Knicks.
Williams, a 6 foot 3 guard, played for the Gophers from 1975 to 1977.
A spokesman for the Knicks said Williams had been suffering over the past year from colon cancer and other forms of the disease.
Former Gophers great Flip Saunders sent out a tweet Friday in memory of his friend and former teammate.
Very sad day Ray Williams friend former teammate at Minnesota and best athlete to step on court at The Barn passed away this morning RIP
— Flip Saunders (@Flip_Saunders) March 22, 2013
According to the paper, he was homeless and living out of his car in Florida as recently as two years ago, and filed for bankruptcy and lost his home and family years before that.
