There was one word that former DuPont Panther Jason Williams used to describe coming back to West Virginia — home.
Williams appeared in front of a crowd in Hurricane for a question-and-answer event on Wednesday.
Williams tries to come back to his home state often and visit friends and former players and coaches.
The former Panther guard does a yearly youth basketball camp, which is typically held at DuPont Middle School, formerly the high school.
You don’t normally see guys with Williams’ resume come back and interact with people.
The Belle native discussed various topics, including growing up in the Upper Kanawha Valley, playing with Randy Moss and what basketball meant to him.
By simply listening to Williams, you could tell instantly that basketball was his escape from reality.
He mentioned that he would work on ballhandling in the DuPont High parking lot just to show off to the cheerleaders.
Williams finished as a highly sought-after recruit coming out of high school, but he wanted to play at St. John’s.
However, he understood that he couldn’t do the commuting in and out of the city for class.
Williams then thought of playing for coach Rick Barnes at Providence, but that was short-lived because Barnes left Providence for Clemson.
The former Panther mentioned that his relationship with Barnes is still strong.
Williams also said that he tries to see Barnes, who is now coaching the Tennessee Volunteers, when they go to Gainesville to play the Florida Gators. Williams resides in Florida.
The DuPont guard eventually ended up playing for the Marshall Thundering Herd for two seasons for coach Billy Donovan.
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Donovan left Marshall following Williams’s only season with the Herd for Florida. Donovan’s Gators won back-to-back national titles in 2006-07.
Williams closed out his college career with the Gators before being selected No. 7 in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings.
Williams blossomed onto the scene for the Kings. There was a game during his rookie season when Sacramento was in Boston and Williams sat under the charter bus where all the luggage was.
Yes, you read that correctly. You can’t do that anymore.
There were times during his earlier seasons when the Kings went toe-to-toe against the Seattle SuperSonics.
One of the opposing players on that team was Gary Payton, who Williams considered one of the best trash talkers he went against. Payton and Williams went on to play together in Miami on the 2006 NBA championship team.
In the NBA, Williams played for such coaches as Pat Riley and Hubie Brown. Brown recently retired from a long television broadcasting career.
Williams considered Brown the best coach he played for in the NBA, he said.
He also gave his two cents on who he thought is the greatest basketball player of all-time. Williams said that LeBron James is the best.
The former Panther guard said that his all-time starting five would be Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, James, Kevin Durant and Shaquille O’Neal.
These were just a handful of stories Williams shared on Wednesday. I can’t recall a guy like him from West Virginia coming home and doing something like this.
It was unique to be a part of it while listening to one of the greatest passers basketball has ever seen.
Williams’ legacy will forever be known for his playing days, as well as his time giving back to the place he calls home.
