BUTTE, Mont.- Depending on whose numbers you believe, 3 to 4% of college basketball players get to continue their playing days by going pro.

Montana Tech's Asa Williams falls into that elite group, but the path has been long, and far from easy.

It was made official yesterday in the HPER, that Asa has signed a contract with TRE Sports Management, a global management, marketing, and consulting agency, in an effort to get a contract to play professional basketball overseas. Former Oredigger Sindou Diallo is also with TRE and helped Asa with the process.
 
Graduating in 2019 from Laramie High School in Wyoming, Asa garnered first-team all-conference, and second-team all-state during his senior season for the Plainsman.

Fresh out of High School Asa played at Hillcrest Prep- in Gilbert, Arizona- in a post-grad program designed to help players get to the next level. He wasn't in Arizona long (this time) before he was headed back east to Illinois for college ball.

His first stop for college was Waubonsee Community College in Illinois. He started in 31 of 32 games and averaged 13.9 ppg, 6.3rpg, and 2.2apg. During his freshman campaign, he shot 42.8% from the field, and 36.4% from the 3-point line. He also converted an impressive 81% from the free-throw line.

His sophomore season was played in Mississippi, at Holmes Community College. As a Bulldog, he played in 20 games, averaging 3.9 points, and 2.2 rebounds, in 12.1 minutes per contest.
After a season in Mississippi, Asa had a return trip to Arizona and a shot with Chandler-Gilbert Community College. In one of the toughest NJCAA conferences in the country, the ACCAC (Arizona Community College Athletic Conference), Asa put up 10.7 points per game, while playing in 29 games.

From Arizona, the next stop was Butte, Montana.

Asa made an immediate impact as an Oredigger.  During the 2022-23 season, Asa played in all 33 games putting up an average of 13.6 points per game and jumping that total up to 14.6 during the Frontier Conference season. He finished the record-breaking season for Montana tech, shooting 43% from the field, and a blistering 40.5% from the arc. He put up a season-high 23 points twice, first at Montana Western on December 3^rd, and again during the Frontier Conference tournament against Providence.  He was selected Second Team All-Conference.

His senior season was another big step for Asa. "Each of the teams and coaches I played for, I learned something different about the game, and myself. Here at Montana Tech, I learned about the team game, and how to be a better teammate." That was on display his final season at Tech.

During his senior season, Asa put up 16.5 points, pulled down 3.3 rebounds, and dished out 1.8 assists per game. He logged 28.5 minutes per game, playing in all 32 during the season. He had multiple 20+ point games on the year, as well as a pair of 30-point games, the first (30 points) at Eastern Oregon University, and the second (a career-high 31 points) coming in the Frontier Conference Tournament championship against Carroll College. In two seasons at Montana Tech, Asa shot 44.9% from the floor, and 38.5% from the arc, in racking up 968 total points. He was named First Team All-Conference.

In signing his contract Asa said "This means everything, knowing my story, and knowing where I came from, and how hard I had to work to get here."

When asked what's next? "I could be playing for a team this fall, probably from September through December, but I will be back to help with camps and train in June."