Local legend adds new chapters to triumphant story
Kent Williams can look around the crowd at a home SIU basketball game and feel the warmth from just about everyone in the house.
There's always a large contingent from Mt. Vernon, the basketball-worshipping town less than an hour away where he was a cult hero in high school. There's the abundant acquaintances he's made around campus in the three years he's attended SIU. And then there are others who Williams may not know individually, but who pull for him anyway like he's their own son or brother or nephew.
"I think a lot of people take me in because I'm a Southern Illinois kid," Williams said. "They like to see somebody from around here play for them. They love everybody on the team, but when somebody grows up here, it means that much more to them."
It doesn't hurt Williams' popularity that he's already distinguished himself as one of the best players in Saluki history. Not yet through with his junior season, Williams has ascended to No. 9 on the SIU all-time scoring list, and his dependable production this season has played an integral part in the 24-6 Salukis gaining a share of the MVC championship.
"He could become the all-time leading scorer in the history, which would be a great achievement," SIU head coach Bruce Weber said. "Especially for a kid that isn't gifted with great size or great quickness. He just does it with a lot of heart and desire, and a great work ethic."
Although Williams was an instant hit for the Salukis, this season he's shored up the few areas of his game that were liabilities. His defense is better. Remarkably, he averaged more than three assists for every turnover in conference games. And since the Salukis now wield more offensive firepower, he's managed to still lead SIU in scoring with more than 16 points a game without forcing as many bad shots.
For Williams, that progression translates into making his personal triumphs all the more gratifying.
"I feel like it means more to me now, because I try to take less shots and I haven't concentrated on scoring as much," Williams said. "I've worked on getting everybody else involved and trying to make everybody else better players.
"So it's fun chasing down records and things like that, and we'll just see how far it goes. There's been a lot of great players here, and I respect them all. It's just been fun chasing some of the guys that I watched play growing up."
Williams' most dramatic contributions this season came in the waning minutes of last week's come-from-behind 65-62 Saluki win over Creighton, when he converted a 4-point play and then put SIU ahead with a 3-pointer. SIU center Rolan Roberts, who has teamed with Williams to supply the Salukis a splendid 1-2 punch, is among the legions who have difficulty finding adequate ways to identify what the 6-foot-2-inch guard means to the Salukis.
"He's a clutch player - what more can you say about Kent," Roberts said. "He's a great player. I have a lot of respect for him."
Since his local heritage and the Salukis' achievements this season can make Williams' career at SIU seem like an over-the-top Disney production, it's easy to forget that major anguish was brewing for the local legend this time a year ago.
It was evident that Williams was simmering in the late stages of last season, when it began to set in that a fairly talented Saluki team was not going to reach its potential. Williams felt selfishness and a lack of drive to win sabotaged the Salukis in what ended up a 16-14 season, and once the season concluded, some unimaginable rumors began floating around.
Kent Williams, the poster boy for Saluki hoops, was considering ditching SIU in favor of transferring to a more high-profile program. At issue for Williams was not a desire to play in a more prestigious conference, but his disgust with what he deemed to be a team not fully committed to winning.
A ferocious competitor, Williams wasn't sure he could take any more.
"That's not the kind of player I am and not the kind of guys I've been around and played with," Williams said.
Williams thought the situation through during spring break, and sensing that the Salukis had the ammunition to make a run at the conference title this season, put faith in his teammates that the atmosphere around the team would change. More than anything, Williams didn't want to quit on a school and a region that adores him.
"I said I'm here in Southern Illinois, this is where all my friends and family are, it's where I wanted to go in the first place," Williams said. "I wanted to win here, and I didn't want to cheat myself or cheat anybody else out by leaving. That felt like taking the easy way out, or taking the coward's way."
Weber didn't attempt to sway Williams much during the time, instead opting to let his prized guard sift through the frustration on his own.
"Everybody has tough times in their life," Weber said. "How you deal with those and what progress you make a lot of time shows what kind of character you have. So I hope he feels he made a good decision, because he's been very important to us."
The choice has turned out swimmingly for Williams, who loves being at the heart of one of the best seasons SIU has ever had. He said it wasn't difficult to repair relationships with his teammates after the transfer rumors spread.
"They realized why I was mad," Williams said. "It wasn't because I felt like I was better than anybody here, or I didn't like guys here or something. It was questioning whether people wanted to win or not, and I think that really turned some heads and got us going."
One of three Saluki captains, Williams has shifted into a leadership role this season. He now successfully commands the respect from teammates that he gave veterans when he was an underclassman, and the way Williams keeps coming at opponents despite being slammed around game after game, the younger Salukis can look to Williams as a model of grit and tenacity.
"I've been getting drilled right and left, lately especially," Williams said. "I might get up a little slower at times, but I've played that style of basketball where I've dived on the floor and happen to be in places where I get elbowed my whole life. I just play that kind of game, and it's something you've just got to live with."
This weekend, Williams has a chance to carve out an even larger chunk of lore in his celebrated career. The Salukis will take aim at their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1995 at the Valley tournament in St. Louis, where SIU owns the No. 1 seed.
The last time the Salukis made it to the Big Dance, Williams was rooting them on as a teenager in Mt. Vernon. He won't be the only one to rejoice if SIU earns another trip this year, but for Southern Illinois' native son, it's safe to say the fulfillment generated by guiding the Salukis back to glory runs a little deeper.
"I've got relations with a lot of people here," Williams said. "It means a lot to me to do it here and bring a championship to Southern Illinois."
Jay Schwab can be reached at jschwab@dailyegyptian.com
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