HE’S GLAD TO BE BACK
Memphis belonged to Shawne Williams on Saturday.
It was his town, his team, his moment.
And the most valuable player trophy, that was his too.
Born a year after the school once known as Memphis State last played in the Final Four in 1985, Williams, a freshman, is trying to get Memphis there again.
“I feel like playing at home is a big thing for a person,” said Williams, the most valuable player of the Conference USA tournament after scoring 18 points in the final Saturday against Alabama Birmingham at FedExForum, the Tigers’ home court.
Now he and Rodney Carney and the rest of Coach John Calipari’s players will see how far their 30-3 record and a No. 5 ranking might take them.
“I guess it’s going to mean a lot,” Williams said. “Put Memphis back on the map.”
In Memphis, people are always looking for the next Penny Hardaway. Some thought of Williams that way, with him 6 feet 8 and skinny.
But he left town without playing his senior year at Hamilton High in South Memphis because of academic problems, only to return after spending most of two years at Laurinburg Prep in North Carolina.
He came back, sticking to his commitment to Memphis after an extra year at prep school, passing on the chance to try to make the NBA in part because his draft status was uncertain.
“At the end, I waited,” Williams said. “It was a lot of things that made me want to go to college. I wanted to play for ‘Coach Cal.’ I want a ring.”
For some time now, some of Memphis’ best players had been leaving the city. Todd Day, another Hamilton player, went to Arkansas and made it to the Final Four in 1990. Corey Beck and Dwight Stewart, another couple of local players, went to Fayetteville too and were part of a national championship team in 1994. In 1997, Cory Bradford left for Illinois, Tony Harris went to Tennessee and Robert O’Kelley went to Wake Forest.
There was never any other school for Williams.
“I think he never wavered,” said Keith Easterwood, Williams’ coach on the local team known as Memphis YOMCA that won a national 17-and-under title. “He was never a guy who had a list of three or four or five schools. It was always, ‘I want to go to Memphis.’ ”
Basketball is part of the fabric of Memphis, whether it’s high school, college or the NBA’s Grizzlies.
“It’s almost like a religion, a sub-culture,” Easterwood said. “In ‘72-73, when Memphis played UCLA in the national championship game, I was 12 or 13, and that’s the first time racially, religion-wise, politics-wise, that this city ever came together. The ’85 Final Four with Dana Kirk kind of got tainted [by NCAA sanctions] but it’s a huge part of this city. People live and die with basketball.”
Perhaps not life and death, but Calipari said staying in Memphis might mean a job for somebody someday.
“The best part of it is, when you stay home, your base of support just grows and grows and grows,” he said. “We’re a national program, but you also get to play in front of your family and friends. Then at some point, when basketball is done and his degree is done, he’ll be good here.
“The other side, what makes it tough, is here you’re distracted by family and friends.”
That’s that many more people who think they should have a say in a player’s future, a hand on his shoulder -- or in his pocket -- or just an eye on his every move.
“When you play at home, you can’t do a lot. All eyes are on you,” Williams said.
Easterwood understands.
“When you’re home and you do well, you’re a hero,” he said. “When you don’t, you’re a goat.”
Williams understands too, but he knows that by staying this much longer, hearts might break harder when he decides to jump to the NBA. Maybe not this year, but probably before everyone is ready to see him go.
“It ain’t uncomfortable. People embrace you,” Williams said. “But when the time comes, the boosters are all going to want you to stay.... When you have your press conference, if you say you’re going to stay, everybody’s going to love you and cry and hug you. The only thing about staying at home is, when you get ready to leave, they’re going to be mad.”
*
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
MEMPHIS ROSTER
Team roster and hometowns:
*--* NAME P CL HOMETOWN Andre Allen G So. Memphis, Tenn. Antonio Anderson G Fr. Lynn, Mass. Rodney Carney F Sr. Indianapolis Kareem Cooper F-C Fr. Washington, D.C. Joey Dorsey F So. Baltimore C. Douglas-Roberts G Fr. Detroit Robert Dozier F Fr. Lithonia, Ga. Travis Long G Fr. Dumont, N.J. Chance McGrady G Fr. Auburndale, Fla. Simplice Njoya F Sr. Cameroon Jared Sandridge G Jr. Memphis, Tenn. Almamy Thiero F Sr. West Africa Clyde Wade G Sr. Memphis, Tenn. D. Washington Jr. G So. Winter Park, Fla. Waki Williams F Sr. Cincinnati Shawne Williams F Fr. Memphis, Tenn.
*--*