Warrior Insider

Kody Williams is originally from Minnesota, and played prep basketball last season at Connecticut. He admits that being on the 2022-23 roster for the University of Hawai’i is “crazy.”

Williams is a 6-foot freshman guard and a walk-on addition to the Rainbow Warriors. “The University of Hawai’i literally just popped in my head,” he said. “I was like ‘oh, it would be cool to go to Hawai’i,’ and that sparked a connection.”

Williams said one of his prep coaches at South Kent School in Connecticut knew Hawai’i assistant coach John Montgomery and “it was a connection ever since.”

It helped that Williams has an aunt who resides on O’ahu’s North Shore. “I’ve been out there a couple times and it’s super beautiful and peaceful and I just love it up there,” he said.

He is one of five newcomers on this season’s roster, and is expected to compete for playing time at both guard positions.

Williams chuckles when asked about the weather differences between Hawai’i and and his home state of Minnesota. “I’m still not quite used to the heat out here yet at this time of the year,” he said. “Normally in Minnesota right now it’s 40 to 50 degrees … I’m going to miss the cold Christmas, that’s for sure.”