Sweetwater’s Williams Signs to Play for USIU

In keeping with his policy of recruiting local players, United States International University basketball coach Gary Zarecky announced Thursday that Mahlon Williams of Sweetwater High School has signed a national letter of intent to play for USIU next season.

By signing with USIU, the 6-foot 3-inch forward/guard will be reunited with Zarecky and assistant coach Dave Holmgren, who both coached at Sweetwater until they took over the Gulls’ basketball program two seasons ago.

“I wanted to stay close to home and I felt that I wanted to go somewhere where I had a perfect player-coach relationship,” Williams said. “Zarecky’s a hell of a coach. Holmgren’s a great coach. And they’ve got some good players. That’s what it takes to win.”

Although most of the other top players in San Diego County signed letters of intent more than two months ago, Williams’ signing was delayed until the end of the school year because Zarecky was not sure if he would be able to satisfy NCAA academic standards.

“I coached Mahlon when he was in the 10th grade, so I knew about his potential,” Zarecky said. “The reason we waited this long was that his senior year had to be assessed for compliance with the NCAA guidelines. He really came through.”

Academics were a major obstacle to Williams’ success in his senior year at Sweetwater. After tying for the county lead in scoring as a junior with a 23-points-per-game average, Williams was ineligible for much of the 1986-87 season for failing to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average. Zarecky said he does not believe Williams will have trouble keeping his grades up at USIU.

“He has to apply himself academically and work hard,” Zarecky said. “Being a private school, there’s a smaller ratio of students to professors, so he can get more individualized attention.”

Another advantage for Williams is that Zarecky, whose 11-17 team last season included seven freshmen, has no problem giving first-year players plenty of playing time. Zarecky said he sees no reason why Williams could not be a regular for the Gulls next season.

“We’re throwing the five positions up for grabs and Mahlon has the tools to start, but the other kids are going to have something to say about that,” Zarecky said. “There’s going to be a lot of competition.”

Williams said he considers himself equal to the competition.

“Like every other freshman, I’d like to start. I feel that I can start. I just have to motivate myself.”