SAN DIEGO’S GENERAL PRACTITIONERS

John Williamson, Kearny, City Western League

Had Denny Stolz, the San Diego State football coach, told Williamson he could play only football while at SDSU, Williamson simply would have gone elsewhere. Instead, Stolz told Williamson he could give baseball a try, and Williamson signed with the Aztecs.

He will play on the offensive line and try out as a pitcher or first baseman.

“What happened to me during recruiting was coaches would say, ‘We need you to bulk up to 300 pounds, you’re only going to play football,’ ” said Williamson, a 6-foot 6-inch, 250-pound 18-year-old. “I just wanted the chance to be able to play baseball because it’s hard enough quitting basketball.”

The toughest thing about going from football to basketball?

Food, Williamson said.

“I was eating salads every night after football season ended,” he said. “I tried to cut down hanging around football players. With them, I’d eat 15 hamburgers and five pizzas.”

The diet helped Williamson shed 20 pounds after each football season.

He also stuck to the books and has a 3.2 GPA.

“I think playing sports helps you with your education because you work hard at it, you want to make sure you’re eligible for your team and your parents,” he said. “It gives you an extra incentive to work harder.”

Further throwing a curve to those who advise specialization, Williamson took up football, the sport he is on scholarship for, as a sophomore.

“I just love sports so much,” he said. “I really can’t stand not playing (several) sports. If you like other sports, I figure you should just go for it. In high school, you should have fun, because the years go by so fast.”

It can be argued that Williamson is the best athlete in the county and had the most to lose by switching.

He made the league’s first team in football as a center, its second team in basketball, also as a center; he hit about .400 for the baseball team and throws an 80-m.p.h. fastball. But basketball and baseball kept him from lifting weights, an activity that has become nearly mandatory for a football lineman who wants to keep up with his peers.

His basketball coach, Bill Peterson, said the other sports “really hurt John as far as realizing his basketball potential. I thought he could be a lot better, though he was very, very good. Hey, that takes a lot out of you.

“I can go both ways on the thing. I think kids ought to be able to do as many things as they can, as long as the kid is not sitting the bench or anything.

“But a guy like John, you’ve got to say, ‘Hey, go for it.’ But it’s really hard as a coach to back off. Geez, I’d like to see him in the gym every Saturday.”