Max Williams turns hometown dreams into reality at DePaul
CHICAGO (BVM) — Every young basketball player has that dream of playing college basketball. Not many players have the opportunity to turn that dream into a reality, especially at the Division I level.
Max Williams is a Chicago native and began playing the game of basketball when he moved to the city in fourth grade. He spent the majority of his time training to reach the collegiate level. He now has the ability to say he is a Division I basketball player, but in his eyes, that is only the beginning.
Around the time Williams began to involve himself in the game as a fourth-grader, he began playing for a club team that has a pretty memorable story behind it.
“At the time, I was playing on a team with a bunch of fourth and fifth graders,” Williams said. “Apparently, one of my teammates was a top-five fourth-grader in Illinois. There was a lot of buzz circulating him. It ended up being Illinois’s starting point guard, Ayo Dosunmu. He was my teammate and his dad was actually my first coach.”
Although Williams was still at a young age, he recalls Ayo pushing him in practices, which forced Max to have a tough and gritty mindset.
As he continued to learn the game of basketball, Williams began to look up to Derrick Rose during his MVP days. He remembers watching him on television and YouTube while closely watching his moves so he could mimic them the next time he went to the park.
“He was my role model growing up,” Williams said. “As a kid, I watched all his games. I was kinda sad when he got hurt and even the second time he got hurt, it was heartbreaking. I was a big fan of his and I still follow him to this day.”
As he transitioned into middle school, Max began to evolve his game by joining the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) for bigger and better competition. He started playing AAU on a team called NBU, which helped him receive an unforgettable experience with his biggest role model.
“Going into high school, one of my trainers knew one of the coaches from Team Rose and said that I should try out,” said Williams. “He told the coach about me, they saw my highlight tape, and so I tried out. I made the team and played with Team Rose for most of my high school career.”
Williams recalls seeing Rose at a couple of practices but never truly getting to meet him. Regardless, it was an immense accomplishment to make the AAU team of his biggest role model.
During his high school career, Williams had the opportunity to play at two different schools, allowing him to grow as a player. He started at the Latin School of Chicago where he played his first two years. For his junior and senior seasons, he had an opportunity to play for IMG Academy in Florida.
“Beginning of my junior year at IMG, it was kinda hard living by myself for the first time,” Williams said. “Looking back, I can definitely say that was the right decision to get out of my comfort zone and go to a different school.”
By the time his senior year came around, Williams was adjusted to the environment of living by himself. He ended up having the opportunity to play for the national team at IMG which included players like Jaden Springer, Josh Green, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, among others.
However, Williams said that playing behind a roster full of five stars was a bad decision.
“It ended up hurting me in the end,” Williams said. “I had coaches come to visit IMG, to come see me play, and they’d come to the games where I didn’t play. I was grateful for my experience with the national team. Playing against those guys every day in practice, I definitely learned a lot and it made me better.”
For the second semester of his senior season, Williams decided to move back down to the regular varsity team at IMG. On this team, he began averaging around 20 points per game and playing like himself again.
After a great second semester of his senior season, Williams had a handful of options that would allow him to play collegiate basketball. He had interests from Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, and New York University.
However, none of these options felt like home to Williams. One school that had always been on his radar was DePaul. This option surely felt like home considering the school was in the city of Chicago. Additionally, Williams had known assistant coach, Tim Anderson, for a plethora of years while growing up as a basketball player.
Williams understood how challenging the task would be to play for the Blue Demons. Finally, Anderson and Williams sat down and had a face-to-face conversation, discussing his future for DePaul.
“Me and my dad were able to sit down with Tim, face to face, and talk about what he expects of me, what kind of role I will have, and that’s when I would eventually commit to DePaul,” Williams said.
Although Williams would start as a preferred walk-on player, Anderson told him and his family how high his expectations were set for the young athlete.
“He expects me to compete every day in practice, push myself to get better, and push my teammates to get better,” Williams said. “He’s gonna be talking to me, guiding me, and that is when he said he expects me to one day earn a scholarship. He saw the potential in me.”
As the team transitions through a coaching change with new head coach Tony Stubblefield, Williams mentioned what we should expect as an audience.
“The culture is going to be a lot different,” Williams said. “I feel like we have a lot to build upon. There is a lot to look forward to with this new staff. As players, we have a lot more time to gel as a unit, which gives us the chance to build chemistry on and off the court.”
As for himself, Williams stated some of his personal goals including the chance at a scholarship.
“My personal goal is to earn a scholarship one day,” he said. “I want to get playing time and prove myself to my teammates and coaches in practice or wherever it may be. Ultimately, I want to do whatever I can to help my team win.”
Either way, Williams has already completed a lot more than most. Being able to play college basketball is no easy task. It becomes even harder when players have their eyes set on one school that they could not say no to.
“DePaul was always in the back of my mind growing up,” Williams said. “Being from Chicago, it was something that me and my family talked about. It was something I had always dreamed of, being able to play for a big named school like DePaul in the city that I grew up in. I never thought it would actually happen. I saw it as a special opportunity.”
