Photo Gallery - Jalen Williams Returns to Santa Clara
Photo Gallery - Fan Photos with Larry O'Brien Trophy

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – NBA Champion Jalen Williams could have chosen to use his short time alone with the Larry O'Brien Trophy to celebrate anywhere of his choosing. His choice was his alma mater – Santa Clara University.

The Oklahoma City Thunder Superstar returned to the Mission Campus with the trophy in hand on Sept. 20, 2025 to celebrate with his Bronco Family inside the Leavey Center. Santa Clara Athletics put on an hour-long event hosted by emcee Anthony Passarelli. The event featured numerous gifts, recognitions, a question-and-answer session and a few surprises.

The celebration kicked off with Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor presenting Williams with the key to the city – a tradition as stated by Gillmor as one that "represents deep respect, gratitude and recognition of extraordinary achievement". Mayor Gillmor shined light on the fact that this is the first time she has bestowed a key to the city since giving one to none other than Beyoncé last summer at her concert at Levi's Stadium.

Following the presentation, Williams was surprised with two videos that was played to the crowd of 2,802 in attendance. The first detailed Williams' journey from his youth to the NBA Championship, and the second featured a host of Williams' friends, family, Santa Clara teammates, coaches and alumni all congratulating him on his success. Both videos can be viewed in the link below.

The question-and-answer portion of the festivities began with Bronco Alums Steve Nash, Danielle Slaton, Leslie Osborne, Jerry Smith and Keshawn Justice asking Williams pre-recorded questions on the video board before a special guest in the form of fellow Oklahoma City Thunder Guard Jaylin Williams popped up to inquire "with all that money…what are you going to get us?". J-Dub, who recently signed a five-year contract extension worth up to $287 million, responded promptly with "nothing".

Following the pre-recorded questions, the audience was invited to ask questions of their own. Of course, the first question belonged to Williams' former coach and self-proclaimed "fashion advisor" Herb Sendek.

The event wrapped up with a pair of special announcements from Santa Clara University President Julie Sullivan and Director of Athletics Heather M. Owen. Sullivan, with the assistance of a pre-recorded video of Santa Clara Assistant VP of Alumni Relations, Kathy Kale, announced that a distinguished alumni banner had been placed on campus to honor Williams before handing him a full-scale replica of the banner. Williams is one of just 12 Bronco Alumni to receive the honor and just the second from athletics (Julie Ertz '13 and Pat Malley '53).

The final announcement was perhaps the biggest of the afternoon as Owen revealed that Williams will have his No. 24 jersey retired to the rafters of the Leavey Center. The retirement ceremony is set for Dec. 3^rd, 2025 as part of the men's basketball game against Utah Tech. Williams will be just the eighth men's basketball alum to have their jersey retired, joining Nash (11), Bob Feerick (5), Ken Sears (55), Bud Ogden (34), Dennis Awtrey (53), Kurt Rambis (34) and Nick Vanos (32).