BC hopes post man Williams will deliver
Everywhere he goes, it follows him, clings to him, and, at this stage of his life and career, defines him. You cannot talk about Sean Williams, Boston College's 6-foot-10-inch freshman forward, and not hear it. Potential.
It is not what Williams has done, it is what he might do. What he is expected to do. What people hope he will do, especially in a program that arguably has never had anyone like him.
The Eagles have had solid post players -- such as all-purpose big man Nate Doornekamp and undersized forward Danya Abrams -- but no one like Williams.
Potentially the best Boston College big man ever?
Listen to Providence coach Tim Welsh, who watched Williams have a career game against the Friars last month with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 69-60 BC victory.
"The guy's different," said Welsh. "He's kind of got an Okafor look to him."
That would be former University of Connecticut center Emeka Okafor, who was the second player chosen in the NBA draft (by Charlotte) last summer and who was regarded as the most dominating defensive big man of the past 25 years in college basketball.
Williams only turned 18 last September and didn't even start playing competitive basketball until he was "discovered" by Dallas AAU coach Tony Johnson.
"I was always athletic," said Williams, sitting in the BC athletic offices. "But athletics wasn't a priority in my family. One day I was just walking around and [Johnson] just saw me on the street and started talking to me. He said, `You come with me, you can get a scholarship, go to school for free.' I liked it and I started playing for him. Tony Johnson, that's my man."
At the time, Williams was a 15-year-old living with his mother, Audrey Garrett, in Mansfield, Texas, a city of 50,000 some 21 miles from Fort Worth. His father, Roland Williams, lived in Houston, although both parents emphasized the importance of education and taking advantage of opportunities.
Playing for Johnson and the Dallas Mustangs provided that. What everyone saw in Williams was the potential for bigger and much better things.
"The first time I saw him he was about 15," said Johnson by telephone from Dallas Thursday. "He was this big, tall, gangly kid [6-6] who was still growing, but falling all over himself. I remember one time we were practicing at Moody Coliseum at SMU and he comes stumbling down the steps, and my assistant looks over to me and says, `You've got to be kidding.' I said, `No, man, he's got potential. You wait and see.' "
Early indications The wait and see came in an AAU game later that summer when some of Williams's potential started to be achieved. Suddenly, he was a kid with a shot and an innate ability to make plays.
People began to see what Johnson saw.
"I remember [BC assistant coach] Ed Cooley calling me up after he saw Sean and said, `Man, we've got to get him.' I told him, `Well, start recruiting him.' "
"There's no question, he has a tremendous amount of potential," said BC coach Al Skinner, who heard the raves from Cooley about this kid from Texas with all of these blossoming skills. "Sometimes that can be a blessing, but it depends on how you handle it. Time will tell whether it's a blessing or whether it's a curse. He's still young to the game, he hasn't played a lot of basketball. There's a lot he needs to learn."
Playing a little less than 18 minutes a game, Williams is showing a mixture of power and potential in his shot-blocking and rebounding. The most spectacular part of his game is his shot-blocking. He has blocked 48 shots in 19 games, third in the Big East.
"I thought BC would be the perfect fit for me," said Williams with a laugh. "And it was all because of Coach Skinner. I just love the way he handles his team. I think he's a player's coach and he takes care of his players."
Williams says he knew why BC went after him in the spring of his junior year and never let up until they signed him in the fall of his senior year, although schools such as Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma all made late runs.
"What they saw was potential," said Williams. "I was long and athletic and liked to block shots."
Which is what he is doing, with new twists. "I do something outrageous every day in practice," said Williams with a laugh.
"I'm still trying to get a feel for the game. I'm least comfortable [taking an open shot]. I can hit them in practice. But I know what my role on the team is. I think sometimes I try to block too many shots. I need to think about rebounding more. That's my weakness."
As for the challenge of being a student halfway across the country from home, Williams said he has had only a few problems.
"The only thing I really hate is all that white stuff," said Williams, pointing out the window to the remnants of the latest winter storm. "I don't like that. When it first came down I said, `Oh, my gosh.' It happens every blue moon from where I'm from. I'm not used to it."
Inner drive Each day, Williams is getting more used to being a big-time player at a big-time program. Skinner, who has seen his fair share of talent in his days as a player and coach, says it'll be up to Williams as to whether he reaches his potential.
"A lot depends on how hard he wants to work," said Skinner. "And what's in his heart. What his own desires are for his individual success.
"His case is different in that he is a very young man, very athletic, but very young to the game. In our recruiting process of him, we said, `We'll give you the opportunity, we'll work with you, but you have to understand it's all self-motivated.' We can help him be a better player, if he's willing to work. If he's not willing to work, he's not going to fulfill your potential.
"And I don't know what he wants. That is a question he has answer for himself. No one can look into a man's heart to figure out what he really would like to do. Sometimes what we offer to players is not the truth. But it's hard to lie to yourself on a daily basis and that's what I ask him to do. Just be honest with yourself. You don't have to be honest with me."
Skinner said he's focused on team success.
"I don't want their individual success more than they do," said Skinner. "But my team success? I want my team to be very successful and I will do whatever I have to do to get that to occur.
"We can give guidance, we can give you an education, we can give you whatever support you need. We can give you some love if you need that. We'll even kick you in the butt, it's up to you. But the day you say, `I've had enough, Coach,' that's fine with me. Because I also know when you get on the free throw line and you look at me, I can't make it for you. You have to know in your own heart that you can do that."
Skinner says the master plan is to work Williams in slowly and steadily.
"We needed something and he was the something," said Skinner. "We needed something different from Nate [Doornekamp] and we needed something different from Craig [Smith]. And [Williams] was it."
With the stretch part of the regular season starting tonight against Syracuse at Conte Forum, BC needs the next level of what Sean Williams has to offer.
"In practice, I see what I'm able to do," said Williams. "But I know I can do more. I know what my role on the team is. Like the coach says, everybody brings something different to the team. So I can see different aspects of the game. I'm in a great situation right now." 