From Spartanburg to Durham

Zion grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and attended Spartanburg Day School (a small private 1A school) for high school. He was a national-level dunk-highlight phenomenon — his viral mixtapes amassed hundreds of millions of YouTube views during his junior and senior years. Despite being only a 6’7″ recruit, he was the consensus #1 prep prospect in the country in 2017-18.

He chose Duke over North Carolina, Kansas, Clemson, and South Carolina in January 2018. The decision came down to head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s pitch about pairing Zion with R.J. Barrett (who’d already committed) and Cam Reddish in a single freshman class. Krzyzewski’s pitch worked — the 2018-19 Duke team became one of the most-watched college basketball squads of the modern era.

The 2018-19 freshman season

Williamson averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game on 68% shooting (the highest field-goal percentage by any major-conference forward in 25+ years). Duke went 32-6 and won the ACC regular season + ACC Tournament championships. The team’s only losses came when Williamson was either injured or in foul trouble — the team was 26-2 with him on the floor through 30+ minutes.

His most-famous Duke moment was the February 20, 2019 game against North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He blew through the side of his Nike PG 2.5 sneaker on the opening possession (his foot literally tore through the upper of the shoe) and missed the rest of the game. Duke lost. Nike’s stock dropped $1.1 billion in the next 24 hours from the public-relations damage. Williamson sat out two games while recovering.

The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery

The New Orleans Pelicans won the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery on May 14, 2019 — overcoming 6.0% odds. The lottery night was widely cited as one of the most-watched NBA non-playoff broadcasts of the year. The Pelicans took Williamson #1 overall. The Memphis Grizzlies took Ja Morant #2. The Knicks took R.J. Barrett #3.

Williamson’s NBA career has been complicated by injuries — he missed almost the entire 2021-22 season with a foot fracture, and chronic hamstring/quad/foot issues have limited him to under 80% of available games in most seasons. Duke retired Williamson’s #1 jersey in February 2024 — the youngest Duke player ever to receive a retired jersey. The school’s basketball arena played his viral mixtape during the ceremony.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Zion Williamson and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records.