Former University of Minnesota basketball star Ray Williams died Friday. He was 58 years old and had been diagnosed with cancer last year.

A beat writer for northjersey.com who covers the New York Knicks, for whom Williams played in the NBA, tweeted the information and attributed it to the team.

Williams played for the Gophers from 1975 to 1977, and was the 10th player selected in the 1977 NBA draft. A 6-foot-3 guard, he averaged 19 points per game with Minnesota. He played in the NBA for 10 seasons -- five of them with the Knicks.

Flip Saunders, his former Gophers teammate and later the coach of the Timberwolves, tweeted:

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