Williams Is Making A Name for Himself

Ron Bailey, Publisher

January 10, 2007 – Jasper Williams, a 6’1, 185lb junior guard at Progressive Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, MD) has come a long way. Once a gusty, somewhat less-athletic performer, Williams has made himself into not only a player that can compete with virtually any backcourt opponent physically, but has also honed his skill set and understanding of the game.

“He has a desire to improve” said Van Whitfield, Progressive’s head coach recently via telephone. “And he’s had the blessing of playing with really top level players”.

In addition to Progressive, currently the fourth ranked Washington, D.C. area team in i95Ballerz.com’s Power Poll, Williams has also attended Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, VA), and Southern Maryland Christian (Waldorf, MD).

It was at Southern Maryland Christian where he and Whitfield started working together, prompting Jasper to follow the coach to Progressive this year. “I followed him because he’s a great person and a great coach. One of the best” revealed Williams.

Williams is seen here against St. Benedicts (NJ). His coach, Van Whitfield, is in the background (red shirt).

This season, Jasper is averaging about 18 points, 10 assists and 2 steals for the high powered Conquerors. On the court, Williams a true scoring point guard, has shown the capability of hitting the long ball and driving to the cup, but he personally enjoys being a playmaker.

“My favorite position is the one (point guard), but I can score so I like playing the two as well” he said. “But I love setting my teammates for easy baskets. I trust my teammates to the fullest”.

Some of that trust is no doubt due to Jasper’s taxing workout regimen, which according to Whitfield includes regular team-based sessions as well as individual workouts that begin at four in the morning, to accommodate disparate schedules. “They work with one of the premier trainers in the area, Terelle Woody” shared Progressive’s coach. “And Jasper doesn’t miss workouts. He takes it serious, and it shows”.

“Kid’s really respect other kids who can play” continued Whitfield. “They respect him”.

Jasper (left), noted "I was up to like 192 lbs" before he, and teammates Gus Gilchrest (a future Va Tech Hokie) and Tony Salmon started their 4 AM workouts with Terelle Woody. During those sessions, they "run, lift weights, put up shots, and do alot of agility work".

Judging from the attention he is starting to garner, so are colleges and universities. “UM (Maryland), Indiana, Clemson, UNC-Charlotte, West Virginia, Rhode Island, UNC-Greensboro, and Va Tech are showing a little interest” said Williams, with George Mason starting to recently, as well. His high school coach relayed the same list, adding Hampton University.

Jasper approaches the recruiting process in a similar fashion as his friend and self-defined “brother from another mother” Georgetown-bound, DeMatha forward, Chris Braswell. “I look at the coaches and how they act to their players. I love when a coach interacts with a player” he indicated. “I also look at the educational part of the school, to see what they accomplish educational wise” with student-athletes.

Wherever he attends, the young man desires to play point guard at the collegiate level.

Jasper’s AAU coach, Triple Threat’s Keith Stevens, along with Whitfield concur lead guard is the young guy’ future full time position.

“Where he’s really good is in transition said Triple Threat’s founder. “He’s got a lot of craft with him”.

“He’s a one in college” stated Whitfield, who went on to reveal Williams plays a lot of shooting guard for him because “he just has such a strong two guard skill set right now”.

Having played hoops since the age of four, Jasper has “Kind of overnight, become a headline type player” in the eyes of the public at large. But those close to him know it’s due to much hard work and effort.