another commitment

[123Rob]

WILLIAMS COMMITS TO THE BONNIES




by Christopher Stock
October 16, 2005



Former Highland Park star James Williams committed to
St. Bonaventure University earlier tonight and is expected to
sign his letter of intent on the first day of the early period,
November 9.

Williams, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound sophomore guard at Cloud
County C.C., visited St. Bonaventure over the weekend and
after he returned from his trip he received a phone call around
5:30 p.m. from head coach Anthony Soloman. Williams told
Soloman he was committing to his program, which prompted
the head coach to yell in excitement over the phone.

Heading into the weekend, Williams also had offers from Loyola-Chicago, Denver,
and James Madison. St. Bonaventure had the advantage for Williams since they
began recruiting him in the spring and the other schools started later in the
summer.

"I had a pretty good mindset before the visit that I was going to commit," Williams
said. "I didn't tell the coaches that because I wanted to see how the weekend
went."

After attending the Bonnies first practice of the season on Friday, he also took a
visit of the campus, which surprised him a bit.

"I heard it was real small campus, but it was a nice campus," Williams said. "It
had a real good college feel to it."

Williams is expected to step in right away and compete for a starting position next
year for the Bonnies at the shooting guard position alongside 2003 New York
State's "Mr. Basketball" Tyler Relph, who is a transfer from West Virginia. Relph
is expected to handle the point guard duties with Williams in 2006-07.

The Bonnies currently have three seniors who averaged over 10 points per game
last season. With Williams coming in, he will be expected to fill the scoring void
left behind. Williams will be wearing number 50 for the Bonnies.

"I wasn't going to cry if I didn't get it," Williams said. "But I have solidified the
number 50 as my number and it was cool that they allowed me to get it."

Coach Soloman and his staff developed a very good relationship with Williams
as three of the four coaches on the staff had met up with Williams during the
recruiting process.

"That showed me they were really dedicated," Williams said. "I wanted the
coaches to want me at their school as much as I wanted to be there."

Williams is planning on arriving at the St. Bonaventure campus for classes
beginning in the summer of 2006. He is interested in majoring in marketing
with a focus on sports management.

He was glad he was able to choose his college destination early so he can focus
on his upcoming season with Cloud County, which begins November 1.

As a freshman, Williams played in all 31 games averaging 9.0 points and 3.8
rebounds per game while shooting 40 percent from the floor as the T-Birds
finished with a 15-16 record.

He wants to continue to improve on his shooting ability over the next year to
help him prepare for basketball in the Atlantic 10, which features Saint Joseph’s,
Temple, Xavier, and UMass.

This year he has his sights on a Western Division championship after a third
place finish last year. Garden City, who will be led by Cincinnati transfer Roy
Bright, is expected to be strong once again.

Seward County features two high school teammates of Williams, Theron Wilson
and Hank Harris. Williams looks forward to the match up against these two
and other former Topeka players on the schedule.

“They are in trouble when we play them,” Williams said. “I'm already mad at
them for not winning the state title back-to-back. They know it’s all in good
competition, but I want everyone to think, ‘oh no, we have to play James’.”

In 2004, Highland Park won the Class 5A State Championship led by Williams,
the lone senior starter. Wilson, Harris, B.J. Spann, and Joe Kingcannon rounded
out the starting lineup for the 19-6 Scots. Williams led the team in scoring
averaging 15.6 points per game.

“The title was big,” Williams said. “It had not been done in 27 years at Highland
Park. With all of the talent that had been through there, it meant a lot for us to
win it. A lot of people said were didn’t have very much talented and we lost six
games. When we won it, we did it the right way like the way the Pistons won
the NBA title.”

Williams plans on taking his winning attitude to St. Bonaventure, a program that
is on the verge of turning this around.

“I think the program is headed in the right direction under Coach Soloman. That
was a big reason why I chose to commit to St. Bonaventure.”

[Deleted]

This is HUGE!!! James Williams will be a two year star here!!!

JAMES WILLIAMS, Highland Park 6-foot-4 senior forward

2003-2004

Averaged 15.6 ppg in leading Scots to 5A title

All-5A first team & second-team All-State

All-Centennial League Career

Helped Highland Park win state title as senior after second-place 5A state finish as a junior

Only All-City first-team repeater Worth noting

Three-year starter led Highland Park to 19-6 record and five straight wins in postseason. ... Only senior on Highland Park roster this season. ... Helped Scots win title (53-46 over Miege) this season after Highland Park dropped a double-overtime decision to McPherson in '03 final.

Comment

"His role he played this year wasn't a natural role," Highland Park coach Ken Darting said. "James is a guy who works hard on his game and takes care of his business, but he's not a guy that naturally loads somebody up or pushes somebody else. I was hard on him to do that and he really did a nice job of doing that by the end of the year."



The newest bonnies is #50

[sbu79]

Is this another one that no one had on their list of potentials? I don't remember seeing his name. Solomon is going to get a reputation as a sneaky little %*^^$!

[Deleted]

Williams proves valuable for Cloud County
Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Dec 25, 2004 by Tony Jimenez Capital-Journal


James Williams has become Cloud County's sixth man

By Tony Jimenez

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

When sophomore starter Adam Vogelsberg of Cloud County broke a foot only a couple of games into the season in early November, coach Kevin Muff didn't have to look long or hard to find a player who could help fill the big gap his star player left.

Muff had an inkling that 6-4 freshman James Williams --- although there were five other second-year players on Cloud's 14-player roster --- could be the player to take the team's reins and keep them afloat.

Good or bad, like it or not, Williams wasn't getting just his little toe into juco hoops, he was diving in headfirst.

And rather than drown in the task, Williams in essence yawned and got into the swim of things.

"When Adam got hurt I became a sophomore in coach's eyes," said Williams. "I wasn't nervous. I just knew that I had to grow up faster. I had to be more aggressive."

Just over a month and 11 games later the verdict is in: Williams has been a big hit.

He's the first Thunderbird off the bench, but he says being relegated to the bench after having been a star at Highland Park doesn't bother him in the least.

"I tell the guys starting that they are setting the tone for the game," said Williams. "When I come in, I just try to fix things that aren't working right. Now I just have to be a leader, too."

His playing time has gone from about 18 to 28 minutes per game. That increased time and his 9-point, 3-rebound averages have helped Cloud County begin the holiday break with a 7-6 record.

"James has given us far more than we expected," said Muff. "When he was in high school I saw that he learned quickly and that he understood the game well. He's still doing that. He one's one of the best in-state players we have had since I've been here (seven years)."

That's in part because Williams, the lone senior on a state 5A championship team, got some good direction from Ken Darting, "one of the best high school coaches in Kansas," according to Muff.

Williams' solid overall play has stamped him as one of the top freshmen in the 19-school Jayhawk Community College Conference early in the season.

"He still makes the typical freshman mistakes, but what I like is he doesn't get rattled when he makes them," said Muff. "He's not an up and down kind of player. Because he's that way we want him in there in tight games."

Not as much, Williams says, as he likes being there.

"I like so-called pressure," he said. "Those situations don't bother me. I just go with my instincts."

The bottom line is that while Muff may have lost a good player for awhile (Marysville's Vogelsberg is expected back in January), he's found another player who has put his best foot forward to lessen the loss.

Copyright 2004

[BEAR]

JAC I always enjoy the recruiting info you post and informative analysis of our opponents and agree with you 99% of the time. But aren't you at all concerned about the other programs recruiting James before you say he'll be a 2 year star. I normally gage a recruit by who else was recruiting him, I get excited when we get a kid who is being sought after by Big East or upper level A-10 programs, not Denver and JMU. I was elated with Hawkins singing, but not so much by Foxes for this very reason. I hope James is a hidden gem the big boys missed and is a star for us, but I am certainly not as excited by this commitment as I was for Lee's or Hawkin's.

[Phantom]

I agree Bear. I hope he is one of those "diamonds in the rough".

I worry about the recruits we sign who aren't even starters!

[Dunga]

There's an article on rivals (Jucojunction). Anyone with a subscription care to post or summarize?

jucojunction.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=428928

[duckhooker]

great!! he's gonna fit right in w/ this team. he has one mean looking mug shot!!! that's a must to be a bonnie basketball player now!

[Deleted]

bear said:

JAC I always enjoy the recruiting info you post and informative analysis of our opponents and agree with you 99% of the time. But aren't you at all concerned about the other programs recruiting James before you say he'll be a 2 year star. I normally gage a recruit by who else was recruiting him, I get excited when we get a kid who is being sought after by Big East or upper level A-10 programs, not Denver and JMU. I was elated with Hawkins singing, but not so much by Foxes for this very reason. I hope James is a hidden gem the big boys missed and is a star for us, but I am certainly not as excited by this commitment as I was for Lee's or Hawkin's.

WHAT? HOW DARE YOU! I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL D.ICKIE V. OZ. HOW DARE YOU DISAGREE WITH ME 1% OF THE TIME? ;D
Seriously, I will be the first to admit when SBU signs a player I get out the pom-poms and start saying this is the next Earl Belcher. I also look at who is recruiting who, but juco's are different. Most high profile schools do not look at juco's until the spring after their A & B prospects have gone elsewhere or their sophomore stud has gone to the NBA. Believe me, James would go MUCH high if he had waited.
Also, it is more important to me who finishes a game then starts it, Williams' own coach says he wants him "in there in tight games". Besides he averaged 28 minutes a game last year, I doubt that all 5 starters played more then that. One or two, maybe, but not all 5.
Finally, according to rival Hawkins was being recruited by New Mexico, SBU, Texas St., UTSA, and Oral Roberts as a senior.
rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=19685
And as for Michael Lee's profile on Rivals...take another look...it is all screwed up. SBU's Michael Lee was never recruited by Arizona, Cincinnati, Florida or Purdue. AND he never attended Wellington High. At the very least that is not a picture of our Mike!

rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=12685

And scout says he only took 1 visit.

scout.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=1295211

My point is, neither one of those two gentlemen mentioned were very hyped by the "experts", Isiah Carson was much more hyped then those two.

Personally, from what I have been told, I am more excited about James Williams then Jourdan Morris and Jourdan is going to be one heck of a player at SBU!

[Chuck]

James was the 4th leading scorer on his team averaging 9 points per game. Last year he had trouble with his stroke from behind the 3 point arc, hitting only 24.6%. Hopefully this season, he makes improvement with his 3 point shot and has the big season that Solomon must be anticipating. Bonnies certainly could use another scorer with the graduation of Ahmad, Patrick and Wade.

Link to Williams season stats
www.kjccc.org/basketball/0405/stats-M/cloud/scombined_7.html

[LumsdnA10Academc98]

Saw Williams arrive at the Buffalo Airport Friday afternoon, where he was met by coach McLure. While I suppose there's a chance he's 6-5, there's no way he's 200 pounds, despite how his JC might list him.
Nontheless, looks like a great signing by a kid who wants to be here. We're recruiting kids who can step in and play from day one.
Let's hope James fares better than a former heralded No. 50, Shawn Abercrombie, while becoming the Bonaventure man that was a later No. 50, Wee-Jay Fernan. Go Bona's!

[Chuck]

I hope he is more successful than another player recruited by Solomon, who also happened to be the 6th man on his JUCO team. Brian Gibbs proved that he was too short to play in the post in the A-10.

[bonniesin2k6]

Nothing against this guy, but I would like to see Coach Sol recruiting class acts who come in as freshmen and try to contribute for 4 years while they provide something to the university instead of all of these 2 year transfers who couldnt hack it in JUCO, continue to not hack it in the classroom and continue to have a chip on their shoulder. Saulis Dumbaluskis was never really a good player, but he was a fine student and a great guy and people loved him as a player for that. He hustled and did what he could. If we're going to lose games with thugs at least bring in some classy losers. Where are all of the Patricio Prato's and Robert Cheeks these days?

[B02]

Patricio Prato was an elite player from the get go. I will never forget the story of he had no clue he had 5 fouls on him in the 2000 NCAA game. According to him the coaching staff never told him about it. Robert Cheeks gave some great effort, but unfortuantely at time he was way over his head. I have no problem with a 2 year JUCO guy when we already have a commitment from a 4 year guy in Jourdan Morris.

[bonniesin2k6]

Agreed. I dont mind one JUCO player, but I dont like being a revolving door of JUCO's. I just want to see some standout 4 year athletes who have some class, instead of taking someone else's troubled player and making them our own only to tarnish our already troubled reputation in the past few years.