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Ex-Top Recruit Takes Long Road With Unknown End

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By THAYER EVANS - New York Times News Service

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 26, 2008

GLENVILLE, W.Va. - As the silver Monte Carlo navigated the winding two-lane road tucked amid tree-lined hills in January, Willie Williams sat in the front seat and stared out the window in disbelief at his rural surroundings.

The change in elevation along Route 5, known as 15 Mile Road because of its proximity to the nearest highway, caused his ears to pop, but the deer eating grass on the side of the road and the signs warning of falling rocks had Williams' full attention.

"I felt like a real tourist," he said. "All I forgot was the camera around my neck."

The twists and turns of the road to Williams' latest stop, Glenville State College, an NCAA Division II university 85 miles southwest of Morgantown, where Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez once coached at West Virginia University, are similar to those Williams has endured.

The top-rated high school linebacker in the class of 2004, Williams, a Miami native, was a mega recruit with a gregarious personality that made Michael Irvin seem shy. Nicknamed the Predator, he was a tackling machine with blazing speed sought by the nation's marquee programs for his big-play defensive ability.

That was even after the diary he wrote for The Miami Herald revealed the excesses of his recruitment and his 11 arrests before the much-publicized start of his collegiate career at Miami.

That was three universities ago, before his dismissal from Louisville four games into last season after a traffic-stop arrest for marijuana possession.

Yet in this one-stoplight, hilltop town of 1,544 residents, where he ate venison for the first time and has learned to play horseshoes, the 23-year-old Williams, now a fifth-year senior, insists he is finally comfortable and, more important, focused.

"Maybe Willie Williams needed a small town to stay focused," said Williams, who is 6 feet, 3 inches and 224 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds, according to Glenville State coach Alan Fiddler.

Williams, however, soon could be forced to add another destination to his nomadic collegiate career.

Glenville State concluded that he would be eligible this season. But Fiddler said that the NCAA ruled earlier this month that a transfer issue made him ineligible.

Glenville State has appealed the NCAA's decision and was expecting a ruling on Williams' eligibility on Monday, Fiddler said. If he is ineligible, Williams will transfer to an NAIA school, where he would be eligible this season.

Such a move would be Williams' fifth school in five years and likely would keep him from receiving his bachelor's degree in business management next year.

"I want to stay here," Williams said. "I'm settled down and focused. This is the perfect college for me."

Williams, though, is aware that his choices have led to his current predicament. After his redshirt freshman season at Miami, he transferred to West Los Angeles Community College for a season, then to Louisville last season.

At Louisville, he alienated athletic director Tom Jurich and Coach Steve Kragthorpe with his off-field problems. Although Williams pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of marijuana possession after his arrest, he said the drugs in his vehicle belonged to his passengers.

"That was a mistake I ended up paying for," Williams said of the arrest.

Williams was familiar with Glenville State because a former high school teammate, Jerry Seymour, had transferred there in 2007. Seymour was asked to leave Central Michigan after serving jail time for his involvement in a fatal beating outside a bar in 2004.

In December, Williams' stepfather called Fiddler to talk about his stepson transferring to Glenville State. After Williams met with Fiddler, he was offered a scholarship.

"He was willing to admit that he's made mistakes in life and made some poor decisions," Fiddler said. "We had a man-to-man talk about, hey, this is the way it is and the way it's going to be. It's worked out."

Despite Williams' off-field problems, Larry Coker, the former Miami coach, expects him to make it to the NFL.

"He can legitimately play," Coker said. "He'll be a good player wherever."

Beyond football, Glenville State has been a cultural awakening for Williams. As he talks about playing horseshoes and eating venison, he smiles and flashes his eight gold-capped teeth.

"It's been a long road, but that's how I made it," Williams said. "It could have been shorter, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel."

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