On two occasions in school history, the men’s basketball program has played in a Division I conference tournament title game. Troy Williams played a key role in the first begin named all tournament at the 1987 Ohio Valley Conference championships.
Williams, a forward from 1981-82 through 1984-85, finished with 1225 points and 598 rebounds. In 108 games, he started 91, average 11.3 points and 5.5 rebounds.
He made 515 of 1039 field goal attempts (49.6 percent), had 67 double figure scoring games, 99 assists, 69 steals and 66 blocks.
His senior year in 1984-85, the Penguins were on the brink of making the Division I NICAA Tournament for the first time in school history. YSU opened OVC Tournament action with wins over Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky. Only a 66-63 loss to Middle Tennessee State ended the dream of advancing to the Big Dance.
Williams was named to the OVC All Tournament team after scoring 42 points while grabbing 22 rebounds.
For the year, Williams played in all 30 games, making 27 starts as YSU finished 19-11. He scored 367 points (1.2 average) and grabbed 170 rebounds (5.7 average).
He scored double figures 18 times, including three 20 plus point efforts. His season and career high was 27 points at MTSU and 13 rebounds versus Wooster. He finished the year with 42 assists, 22 blocks, 16 steals and four double-doubles. From the field he was 155 of 304 and from the line converted 57 of 89 attempts.
His junior year, YSU was 18-11. Williams played in 29 games, starting 23. He scored 314 points (10.8 average) and grabbed 144 rebounds (5.0 average). He scored in double figures 18 times, including a season high 25 versus LaSalle. He also had 30 assists, 26 steals and 14 blocked shots. From the field he was 139 of 273.
During his sophomore campaign he played in 24 games, starting 22 contests as YSU went 15-12. He scored 289 points (12.0 average) and grabbed 152 rebounds (6.2 average). He scored in double figures on 18 occasions, including a season high 20 against Cleveland State. He made 118 of 252 field goals and made 53 of 74 from the free throw line. He had 15 assists, 12 steals and 10 blocks.
As a freshman, Williams played in 25 games, starting 21 contests. He scored 255 points (10.2 average) while grabbing a team high 132 rebounds (5.7 average). He finished the year with 20 blocks, 15 steals and 12 assists while making 103 of 210 field goal attempts and 49 of 67 free throw attempts. He scored more than 20 points four times, including a season high 26 versus Tennessee Tech. A member of the OVC All Freshman team, he scored in double figures 13 times. He had 13 boards against Morehead State.
Following his Youngstown State career he played professionally in France and had a brief stint with the CBA Cincinnati Slammers.
A graduate of Akron Buchtel High School, he averaged 17.5 points as a senior while being named all city, All Summit County, all district and honorable mention all state.
He graduated from YSU with a degree in Economics. He is currently a sales manager at Rent A Center in Youngstown.
Tory and his wife Donna have two daughters, Candace and Laura.
