Elgin's Williams says yes to Texas-Arlington
Seeing is believing. Even if it means seeing via satellite.
Elgin senior Armani Williams had been courted to play college basketball at the University of Texas-Arlington for the last several weeks, but it wasn't until Williams watched the Mavericks qualify for the NCAA Tournament on ESPN2 Sunday afternoon that he was ready to make his college commitment.
"I was following their tournament and calling them to see how they did," Williams said, "but it was good to see for myself how they look, how their team is, how they play, how hard they work.
"Basically, I was breaking them down in detail when I saw them on TV because I finally got to see how they played. They just play and work hard and that's how they won."
Williams phoned to congratulate the UTA coaching staff Sunday afternoon after the Mavericks defeated Northwestern State for the Southland Conference Tournament title, a victory that earned the school its first NCAA Tournament berth in its 49-year basketball history.
During that phone call Williams accepted the full scholarship he had been offered. His decision was announced publicly Sunday night at the Daily Herald All-Area awards banquet at The Stonegate Conference & Banquet Centre in Hoffman Estates.
The college offer was gratifying for Williams, who spent last summer tirelessly rehabbing his knee following surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
"It feels good," Williams said. "I'm happy I got a full ride. I'm going to be playing the game I love so I'm very happy."
Williams finished his four-year varsity career as the second-leading scorer in Elgin High history with 1,744 career points, 363 behind all-time leader Sean Harrington.
His 337 career 3-pointers are an Elgin record and rank him sixth all-time in IHSA history. He netted an Elgin single season record this season by sinking 114 3-pointers in 309 attempts (36.9 percent), and he helped lead the Maroons to their first sectional title in 10 years by averaging a team-best 19.8 points per game in .