Boston Celtics draft Tennessee's Grant Williams No. 22 overall

Grant Williams added another item to the long list of his basketball accomplishments on Thursday.

The Tennessee basketball great was drafted into the NBA, picked No. 22 overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2019 NBA Draft. He is the first Vol drafted in the first round since Tobias Harris in 2011.

Williams had a highly decorated three-year career in Knoxville, which ended when he declared for the NBA Draft after another big season.

Williams averaged 18.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his final season at UT. He earned consensus All-American honors, joining Dale Ellis (1982-83 season) and Bernard King (1976-77 season) as the only Vols to do so.

The Charlotte, N.C., native won back-to-back SEC Player of the Year awards and is one of only 10 players to win the award in consecutive seasons.

Williams was a mid-level recruit, brought to Tennessee as part of a program-changing 2016 recruiting class. He made an impact early in his career, averaging 12.6 points per game with 29 starts.

He earned SEC All-Freshman honors, which was just the beginning of his achievements at UT.

Williams dominated his sophomore season, leading Tennessee with 15.2 points per game as the Vols won a share of the SEC regular-season title. He split the SEC Player of the Year award with Georgia's Yante Maten but won it outright as a junior.

He was nominated for multiple national player of the year honors and was named a finalist for both the Wooden and Naismith awards.  

Williams scored a career-best 43 points in an overtime win at Vanderbilt. He made all 23 of his free-throw attempts in the victory, which was UT's first win as the No. 1 team in the nation last season.

More:Five things to know about Tennessee basketball's Grant Williams