Standing Tall || Only one Campbell hoops player has scored more than Jerah’me Williams

ONLY ONE CAMPBELL HOOPS PLAYER HAS SCORED MORE THAN JERAH’ME WILLIAMS

By JOHN KOVACH

VINDICATOr SPORTS STAFF

When a high school basket- ball player stands only 5-foot-8 inches in height but still scores more than 1,000 career points, he obviously has to have special talents that enable him to overcome such a height disadvantage.

In Jerah’me Williams’ case, the diminutive Campbell Memorial High senior guard and four-year starter has the quickness to get open for a shot and make a steal to score on the fast break.

Plus, he has the accuracy to connect when he lets the ball fly.

“I get my shots and I get a lot of points on steals and fast breaks,” said Williams, who surpassed 1,000 career points with the 21 scored last Friday in Campbell’s 59-51 win over Brookfield. “I try to time the ball when I am going at somebody [for a steal] and count how many dribbles they like to take and what moves they make to the basket.

“[I am] finding a way to find a shot,” Williams said. “I am doing a lot more of that.”

Williams’ 21-point performance gave him 1,018 career points to make him only the second Campbell player to exceed 1,000, confirmed Bobbie Castor, the Red Devils statistician.

Castor said Williams follows in the path of 6-foot-4 Tilman Bevely, a 1984 Campbell graduate and the first Red Devil to achieve the 1,000 feat.

Bevely completed his Campbell career (1980-84) with 2,055 points which rank No. 34 in Ohio among the state’s all-time high school career scorers.

Bevely went on to an outstanding four- year career at Youngstown State from 1984-88,and has been inducted into the YSU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Williams, whose 17 points against LaBrae on Tuesday gave him 259 this season, scored 122 as a freshman, 293 as a sophomore and 361 as a junior.

Williams credits practice sessions and his teammates’ support for helping him to become a better player and prolific scorer.

“Just hard work over the summer [has helped] — practicing, shooting and working on my game outside of the gym,” said Williams,” who also has made 47 percent of his field-goal attempts, 38 percent of his 3-point shots and 74 percent of his free throws over his career.

“Playing with [teammates] that I have been with as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior have given me an upper edge on a lot of players,” Williams said. “I am very familiar to the other players and they know what to look for [in me] and what I want.”

Coach Brian Danilov of Campbell (11-3, 7-0 All-American Conference Blue Division) agreed that Williams has the quickness and knack to score on offense and defense, but that his greatest assets as a player are his “dedication to the game and determination” plus strong family support.

“He scores in those ways mentioned but probably the family he comes from is his biggest asset,” Danilov said.

“I have coached two of his uncles [Chuck McRay and Damon Williams], and coached with one of his uncles [Tony McIntosh],” said Danilov, emphasizing the importance of family in the success of a student-athlete.

“That’s the reason. He comes from a great family. He comes from a very selfless family. And a good player has to be selfless player.”

Williams also has 230 career assists, including 24 this year; as well as 123 steals, 33 of them this season.

Danilov said that four years of experience with other good players also have benefited Williams.

“What helped him is that he played as a freshman on a very good team, and he played four years with pretty good teams,” Danilov said. “They won four district titles in a row and two regionals.

“His height has been a little bit of a detriment. We have him doing upside down pushups with a 40-pound weight on his back. But he has the dedication to be better and nice quickness and has a good basketball IQ.”

The son of Danielle Williams of Campbell, Williams has a 2.6 grade-point average and is hoping to go on to play college basketball.

“Wherever I can play, [I’ll go],” said Williams, who wants to major in sports management or business. “I don’t think I want to play [NCAA] Division III. I want to challenge myself and play D-II or D-I.”

Danilov said he believes Williams has the ability to be successful academically and as a basketball player in college.

“I think he will [go to college]. He has to find a right fit. He has to find a team looking for a 5-8 guard,” Danilov said.

Williams, who has been scouted by Georgia Southern and Seton Hill, does have a college preference.

“I would love to go to Wright State,” he said.

kovach@vindy.com