When it comes to Kavell Bigby-Williams and the NCAA basketball tournament, think of the LSU senior forward as the Tigers’ Crash Davis.

It’s a good bet that Bigby-Williams has no clue that Crash Davis was actor Kevin Costner’s wise veteran minor league baseball player character in the movie “Bull Durham.”

Besides the fact Bigby-Williams, a British native was raised on soccer in East London, he wasn’t even born when “Bull Durham” hit the screens in 1988.

But there’s a scene in the movie where Crash Davis’ young teammates find out he once played in the major leagues, a.k.a. “The Show.”

“Yeah, I was in The Show,” Davis says. “I was in The Show for 21 days once - the 21 greatest days of my life. You know, you never handle your luggage in The Show, somebody else carries your bags. It was great. You hit white balls for batting practice, the ballparks are like cathedrals, the hotels all have room service. . .”

Maybe you can imagine Bigby-Williams, an Oregon transfer who played in every NCAA tournament game in the Ducks’ 2017 Final Four run, telling all his LSU teammates who have never played in the NCAA tourney:

“Yeah, I was in The Big Dance. I was in The Big Dance for three weekends – the greatest three weekends of my life. You know, you never handle your equipment bag in The Big Dance, somebody else carries your shoes. It was great. They have shiny new basketballs just to use in practice, the arenas are like performing dramas in the round, the hotels all have Starbucks. . .”

The 6-11 Bigby-Williams averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in five NCAA tournament games, including playing 10 minutes in Oregon’s Final Four one-point semifinal loss to eventual national champion North Carolina.

Heading into Thursday’s 11:40 a.m. East Region opener for third-seeded LSU against No. 14 seed Yale in Jacksonville, Bigby-Williams has simple advice for his NCAA tourney-neophyte Tigers’ teammates.

“You can’t take anything for granted, seeding doesn’t matter,” Bigby-Williams said. “This team (Yale) upset Baylor (in the 2016 NCAA tournament), so you’ve got stay focused and guard like it’s your last game. You aren’t guaranteed anymore games after this one. You survive and advance, you find a way to win.”

Like LSU, Oregon was a No. 3 seed in 2017. The Ducks advanced through the Midwest Region with wins over No. 14 Iona and No. 11 Rhode Island in the first weekend, then No. 7 Michigan and Midwest top seed Kansas in the Sweet 16 before losing 77-76 in No. 1 South seed North Carolina in the Final Four.

“Every week I felt like it got better and better,” said Bigby-Williams of the aura of advancing from round-to-round. “You’ve just got to focus on the first weekend, then get ready for the quick turnarounds.”

It wasn’t until Bigby-Williams quit playing soccer as a 6-6 15-year goalkeeper – “I broke my leg,” he said – that he turned to basketball, which he added ranks behind soccer, rugby and cricket as England’s most popular sports.

“Everybody said I should go play basketball,” he said, “so I did. I knew I was athletic, I could run the floor and I could rebound and dunk. I picked up the basics, then got more fluid and my (basketball) I.Q. got better.”

As Bigby-Williams physically grew, so did his overall game. He averaged 20.7 points, 15.4 rebounds and 6 blocks per game as a senior in 2013-14 at Harris Academy in Beckenham.

Then, he played for Great Britain’s national Under-20 and Under-18 teams, averaging 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game between the two squads. His international play was enough for Gillette (Wyo.) Community College to take a chance on his raw talent.

In his sophomore year at Gillette, he was named the NJCAA Division I 2015-16 Player of the Year after averaging 16.8 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 blocks per game. He moved on to Oregon where he averaged 3 points and 2.8 points in reserve role, then decided to transfer in April 2017 a few weeks after the Final Four.

Possibly the biggest reason Kavell-Williams abruptly left Oregon was he had played the entire season under investigation of a sexual assault he allegedly committed in September 2016. It supposedly happened when he visited Wyoming after he had enrolled at Oregon.

Bigby-Williams said it was consensual sex and the alleged victim didn’t press charges after making the complaint. Oregon announced in June 2017 that Bigby-Williams was not suspended by Oregon officials because there was “insufficient information to warrant interim action.”

Finally, in August 2017, it was announced Bigby-Williams wouldn’t be charged after case facts were reviewed and consulting with the alleged victim and the investigating officers.

It allowed the exonerated Bigby-Williams to transfer to LSU where coach Will Wade said the school approved the transfer after a thorough investigation.

“Kavell understands that and has made clear to me that he’s going to repay our confidence by representing LSU with his very best on and off the court,” Wade said when announced Aug 19, 2017 that he had signed Bigby-Williams.

Since then, Bigby-Williams has been a man of his word.

From last season when he redshirted in accordance with NCAA Division 1 transfer rules to this year in which he's a vital reason why LSU is 26-6 and SEC regular season champs, he has been a model citizen, student and teammate.

He has filled a vacancy the Tigers have desperately needed – an athletic, quick jumping lengthy rim protector who understands his role is blocking shots and rebounding, particularly attacking the offensive glass.

He’s averaging 7.9 points and 6.6 points but ranks first in the SEC in offensive rebounding (2.9 per game) and third in blocked shots (1.9).

Though Bigby-Williams is not worried about scoring – “I can’t control my points, they just obviously come,” he said – he’s a threat to score every time teammates shoot. His game-winning tip-in at Kentucky will forever be remembered in Tigers’ basketball lore.

Now, as his college career winds down and with an eye of possibly getting a shot to play in the NBA – “I’m a big defensive presence, I feel role players is what a lot of (NBA) teams look for these days,” he said – he’s grateful for his journey.

It’s been one with twists and turns, with smiles and heartaches, from the soccer fields of London, to the remote locale of Gillette tucked away off I-90 in northeast Wyoming, to the Pac-12 powerhouse Oregon in cool, crisp Eugene and finally to rebuilding LSU in the stickiness of humid Baton Rouge.

Through all the good and bad, Bigby-Williams wouldn’t trade a moment of his almost 10-year transformation, from a goalkeeper with a fractured tibia to a basketball player about to end his college career by playing in his second NCAA tournament.

“I always thought maybe I’d play in America, but not against major schools like Kentucky and North Carolina,” Bigby-Williams said. “It has been a great experience and I’m blessed to be in this situation.”