Green Valley's Williams concentrating on football

Basketball has always been Cornell Williams' first love.

When he envisioned himself earning a college scholarship, the Green Valley senior always pictured it happening on the hardwood, not on the gridiron.

But when Larry Thomas, the Gators football and basketball coach, sat Williams down last year and explained that the 6-3 athlete had a better chance to be a defensive back than a shooting guard at the college level, Williams got serious about football in a hurry.

"Like most kids, he loves basketball and he hoped that's where he'd get his scholarship," Thomas said. "But he found out during (last summer's) Big Time Tournament that he's a better than average player, but a 6-3 guard is only O.K. and a 6-3 defensive back is great."

So Williams, academically ineligible for most of his sophomore and junior football seasons, worked hard to get his grades where they needed to be. And so far this fall, the Gators are thankful he did.

The versatile athlete has not only been one of the area's top cornerbacks, but has also doubled as Green Valley's second-leading receiver, hauling in 14 catches and a pair of touchdowns.

"To be honest, he's a better wide receiver than we thought he'd be," Thomas said. "Because of his athletic ability, he can get the ball against most 5-9 defensive backs."

Williams admits he was initially skeptical about playing receiver. After all, his preference is to dole out hard hits, rather than receive them. But after playing both ways for the first five weeks, he realizes his offensive experiences are helping him defensively.

"Playing wide receiver, I get to see both sides of the ball and that helps me play corner," Williams said.

Williams' play so far has been a key to the Gators' 3-0 Sunrise Division start. In fact, had it not been for his 99-yard interception return in a week three win over Las Vegas, Green Valley likely wouldn't be playing Eldorado for first place in the conference this Friday.

Ironically, if things had gone as Williams had planned last year, he wouldn't be a member of one of the area's top football teams at all in 1998.

After attending Green Valley for his freshman and sophomore years on the district's "optional zone" program for minority students, Williams attempted to return to Rancho -- his zoned school -- before the 1997-98 school year.

The move was blocked, however. Looking back, Williams is awfully glad he stayed put.

"My mom and I talked about it after we played Rancho (two weeks ago), and I'm glad I stayed at Green Valley," Williams said.

And, rather than harbor bitter feelings about the incident, Williams and Thomas agree that the experience has only served to make them closer.

"When I came back, we had a long talk and it did make the relationship stronger," Williams said. "I enjoy playing both sports for him now, and I wish I had a couple more years here."

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