LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Grant Williams spent much of the season starring on the top-ranked team in the nation, becoming the first back-to-back SEC Player of the Year in nearly a quarter-century.

The undersized, under-recruited, out-of-shape kid who came to Knoxville is now a projected NBA first-round pick, the reason the Volunteers could soon be in their first Final Four.

But only “more recently” did Williams’ parents finally recognize Tennessee is where he belongs.

“There’s never been a regret in my mind, not even a curiosity,” the junior said Wednesday. “I don’t ponder it much because everything here has been everything I could hope for.”

There was plenty to ponder when Williams wasn’t among the top-150 recruits in the country, when the intellectually curious and academically exceptional 6-foot-5 tweener was considering offers from Yale and Harvard.

Williams’ mother, a NASA engineer, and father, a former math teacher, hoped to see him in the NCAA Tournament, representing the Ivy League.

“Growing up, my parents stressed academics,” Williams said. “Most of my life, being a student was more important than being an athlete.”

Williams was too talented and well-rounded to be defined as an athlete — or anything else.

In elementary school, he was a nationally ranked chess player. He won basketball — and Math Bowl — trophies. He learned to play as many as 10 instruments — including piano, violin and clarinet — and attended schools specializing in the performing arts, finishing his senior year in high school singing a solo and tap-dancing in a rendition of the musical “Anything Goes.”

Williams could do almost anything, but was most interested in seeing where basketball could take him. Tennessee offered what the Ivys couldn’t, the scholarship no other power program did.

“I knew what I could do. … People doubted me, and it was motivation,” Williams said. “I came here with the mindset of improving the program however that is. … Being recruited here, we wanted to leave our legacy and we wanted to lay a foundation for future prospects to come here. I feel like we’ve done a good job of that. There’s more to do and more to prove.”

Williams motivated himself to drop 25 pounds after arriving on campus, weighing as much as 260. He motivated a fan base bred on football to make him the biggest star on campus. He motivated teammates with relentless optimism and encouragement.

“He’s such a great leader,” teammate Jordan Bone said. “He’s an amazing guy on and off the court.”

Williams’ latest on-court effort saved No. 2 Tennessee, 31-5 and the second seed in the Midwest Region, from another heart-wrenching end. After being upset on a last-second shot by 11-seed Loyola-Chicago last year, the Volunteers blew a 25-point lead to Iowa on Sunday, before Williams scored six points, with an assist and a steal in overtime to secure the win, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks.

“I feel like a fifth-grader who just ate Skittles,” Williams said after the second-round win.

No. 3 Purdue has seen such a performance. At the start of last season, Williams scored 22 points after halftime, and hit the game-winning shot, of a 78-75 overtime win over the Boilermakers in the Bahamas.

“Guarding a guy like Grant Williams is a five-guy assignment,” Purdue center Matt Haarms said. “He’s a great player. He understands the game and he plays hard. If he was 6-foot, he’d still be a great player.”

Williams will graduate this spring. He isn’t yet sure if he’ll declare for the NBA draft or begin working on his MBA while making one more run in Knoxville.

He knows he’ll make the right choice.

“I’ll take a step back after the season, after everything’s wrapped up, and said and done,” Williams said. “Until then, I’m just gonna keep riding and enjoy what we’re doing now.”