Former Miner Jason Williams Hosting Turkey Drive on Tuesday

Former Miner and ex-pro basketball player Jason Williams is back in the Sun City and he's hosting a fall turkey drive on Tuesday.

Williams is now training up-and-coming basketball players in El Paso and he has also launched his non-profit foundation, Believe Sports Foundation.

The turkey drive will get started at 4 p.m. at the Chamizal Recreation Center. They are welcoming the community to stop by and pick up a turkey, courtesy of the Believe Sports Foundation.

"It feels really good to give back to a community that once supported me while I was here in college," Williams said. "I have been training kids at the Chamizal Rec Center, which is one of the poorest areas in town. I'm going to give back to the community that I see every day when I get to train out there.

"I'm hoping to make this a yearly tradition and I'm hoping to do a lot more events with the Believe Sports Foundation." - Jason Williams

Williams was a key member of the Miners during mid-2000s. The 6-foot-6 forward helped the Miners make three consecutive postseason appearances. He totaled 1,225 points, 614 rebounds and 300 assists over his career at UTEP. Some of his most notable accolades included Second Team All-Conference USA (2005), the 2005 All-WAC Defense Team and the 2004 WAC All-Tournament Team. Interestingly enough, Williams posted UTEP's first-ever triple-double in team history (17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in an NIT win versus Lipscomb).

Following his time at UTEP, Williams played professionally overseas from 2006-2019. He joined the Israeli League club Bnei HaSharon in 2006. In 2008, he joined the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and he joined Ironi Nahariya in 2009. On June 13, 2017, Williams joined the French club Roanne from LNB Pro B.

Believe Sports Foundation aims to give back to the community through athletics. They hope to continue hosting basketball camps, along with mentorship programs. They will also continue to do events like this in the community.

For more information on the turkey drive, call the foundation at 504-281-8116.