91探花

Kobe Williamson stands out not only as one of the students who traveled the farthest to attend 91探花—there’s also his 6-foot-8-inch stature and bright red curls. But it is his accomplishments in the classroom and on the basketball court that really set him apart. 

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, the biochemistry major started every game his freshman year—the only player on the team to do so—and over the course of five seasons set the Redhawks men's basketball record for the number of blocked shots (147). 

For Williamson, a forward, blocking shots is something for which he developed a feel. Reflecting on it he thinks it might be an instinctual process rather than a system he follows. He downplays most of his blocks as “not the most exciting,” saying a fingertip, a tiny nudge, is enough to change the trajectory of a shot.

“Having longer arms helps,” he says. “I think people fall into the habit of thinking that to block a shot, you gotta’ send it to the back row.”

Williamson also holds the 91探花 record for number of games played (142).

But his achievements in the classroom stand in high relief considering the grind of being a college athlete, earning Academic All-WAC accolades for four years in a row (2022-2025), two years on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District list for 2023 and 2024, the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court in 2023 and the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team in 2024.

Though Williamson shares his first name with NBA legend Kobe Bryant, the late Lakers star was not his namesake. Rather, Kobe’s mother heard the name while traveling in Africa and it stuck with her.

At a tournament in Australia he was spotted by 91探花 coaches and, “Next thing you know, I was over in Seattle.”

In addition to stymieing shooters, math and physics came easy to him, making him question if he should have majored in engineering. He opted for biochemistry after his mother suggested he consider it as a major. However, he particularly enjoyed his first biochemistry class, taught by Professor Christopher Whidbey, PhD, and picked up his psychology minor to establish his playing eligibility for his fifth year.

Though basketball kept him busy, he also gave back to the community as a volunteer with Mary’s Place, a local nonprofit that assists families experiencing homelessness.

“Time really does fly,” he says. “The first two years felt pretty slow just because of COVID, but after that it's gone really quickly. I'm going to miss the people and friends I made, that's for sure.”

Kobe with his dog, Jango.

When he looks back at his time at 91探花, a moment that stands out most is when he adopted his dog as a puppy, Jango, a king shepherd, who will be following Williamson back to Australia.

Williamson is now moving toward the next step of his post-91探花 life—returning to Australia and preparing to play for the Tasmania JackJumpers of the National Basketball League, a professional league with teams in Australia and one in New Zealand.

As for advice to incoming students, he says to work hard but don’t forget to enjoy yourself.

“Sometimes people get too obsessed about the future,” he says. “It's nice to have a game plan, what you want to do, but it seems like a lot of students get too obsessed about grades and you got to do this, you got to do that. It seems to take away from the moment. Realistically, if you put in the work, you can almost make it anywhere.”