University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Jawad Continues Workout Whirlwind
June 24, 2005 | Men's Basketball
June 24, 2005
By Adam Lucas
Jawad Williams could have been forgiven for hiding in the shadows last weekend. It was one of his rare off days from a very busy pre-NBA Draft workout schedule--after Thursday's workout in San Antonio and today's session in Philadelphia he will have worked out for 13 NBA teams--and he wanted to get in a couple hours of work in a familiar environment. He headed to the Smith Center ready to share the court with Marvin Williams.
But he also had one other item on his agenda. The previous week, Eric Montross had mentioned his Father's Day basketball camp to the newly minted UNC graduate. "Stop by if you can," said Montross, who prefers not to pressure alums to attend his camp.
Understand that a one-sentence reminder a full 10 days before the event usually has minimal impact on a college basketball player, especially a college basketball player trying to earn a slot in the NBA. They've got workouts to attend, interviews to do, bling to buy.
But there was Jawad Williams showing up at Montross's camp, asking if he could address the sold-out crowd of nearly 150 campers at the fathers-and-sons/daughters event (the camp is already almost 75% full for 2006, click here for more information or call Crystal Hinson Miller at 919-966-5812).
"I had planned to be at the Smith Center to work out," Williams said. "And I've worked with a lot of those kids since my freshman year and I feel like I have a relationship with them. So I wanted to make sure I stopped by and said hello. I had to tell them I was hoping to see them play at Carolina one day."
The decidedly old-school move (Marvin Williams also took time out from his daily Chapel Hill workouts to speak to the crowd and posed for pictures with anyone who had a camera) left a lasting impression on Montross, another player whose off-court exploits have made Tar Heel fans proud.
For Williams, the challenge over the past month has been to impress NBA general managers. He's circled the country, including stops with the Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and numerous other teams, to try and improve his draft stock. The workouts have run the gamut from typical run-and-shoot periods to psychological tests to roundtable forums on basketball with the coaches and front office staff of the team involved.
"They tell you exactly what they think," Williams says. "I get feedback right away and then they call my agent afterward and give all the positives and negatives. From what I've heard, my versatility is what people like, along with making good decisions with the ball and the fact that I play hard."
Mock drafts generally project him as a second-round pick. But Williams wouldn't know.
"The first thing they tell you is, `Don't pay attention to mock drafts,'" Williams says. "They stress over and over not to pay attention to them."
So he hasn't, which is why he expresses no preference for where he'll enter professional basketball. He'll spend draft night in Cleveland with his family on what should be a decidedly Tar Heel-tinted evening--four Carolina players should go in the first round, and Williams and perhaps Jackie Manuel, who has been spending time in Washington, D.C., in preparation for his wedding on August 13, will go in the second round.
A large contingent from the 2005 national champions, including Sean May, Raymond Felton, Manuel and Williams, reunited in Chicago during the predraft camp and went to dinner. For some, the title is just starting to seem real. For Williams, it's one of the fondest memories from a college career that saw a dramatic change in the formerly stringy Cleveland native.
The freshman version of Jawad Williams rarely spoke and largely kept to himself. Which is why it was especially satisfying to watch him coolly field questions from Carolina Basketball School campers Wednesday afternoon, a towel slung over his shoulder, working the room like a seasoned veteran.
It was his second camp stop of the week, making an impressive doubleheader with his Montross Camp appearance. Even Williams recognizes the changes Chapel Hill has made in him.
"The freshman year version of Jawad Williams, there's no way he talks to that camp," he says. "I probably would have just gone right out the back door the same way I came in and snuck out without anyone seeing me."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
