Williams comes from Memphis, Tenn., where he was a finalist for the state's Mr. Basketball. At Briarcrest Christian High School he set a school scoring record with 51 points in a game and made first team all-state as a senior. Here, William is a walk-on.

"This is the most humbling, yet rewarding experience of my life by far," Williams said. "I get to play basketball with great players in the best conference in the country. I have the best seat in the house for every game. But my job is to make the other players better, and that's humbling."

Making his teammates better may be Williams' job, but it is not the only humbling thing that has happened since he was accepted to Wake Forest as a student-athlete guaranteed four years of basketball as a walk-on.

Former Assistant Coach Barry Sanderson approached Williams after his freshman season and told him his basketball career for the Deacons was over. Williams stopped going to weights and workouts and resigned to becoming a student. Broderick Hicks changed that four weeks later.

Williams ran into Hicks on campus and was asked if he was coming to weights. Williams, the student, said, "No, coach won't let me."

Hicks said, "Well, I'm the coach now, and I say you're coming to weights."

Two hours after Head Coach Dave Odom announced he had accepted an offer to coach the University of South Carolina, Williams started working out with the team again.

The Athletic Department announced a players' meeting two weeks later and flew in the team's new coach. Williams went to the meeting, invited or not, and sat in the rear as Head Coach Skip Prosser announced he was taking over the basketball program.

"The whole time I wondered if he was thinking I was the manager," Williams said. "He couldn't have had any idea who the skinny white kid with the red hair was. I introduced myself to him, though, and acted like I belonged."

Williams did belong, and he continued to show up at the team's workouts to prove it. He only doubted himself one moment during those spring workouts; it was the first time he was in the gym with Prosser alone.

"He asked me to show him a few things," Williams said. "I thought we were walking down to the locker room for him to tell me things weren't going to work out. Instead, he asked me about my story.

"From that first conversation on, I knew that I wanted to play for him and would do whatever I could to do it."

Williams spent the summer on campus working to earn the chance to play for Prosser, but that fall Prosser released him. The team needed a bigger walk-on, he said, someone who could bang around in the low post during practice.

Disappointed, Williams once again resigned himself to being a student. Signs posted around campus advertising basketball tryouts later that fall gave Williams a second chance. He went out for the team another time and reclaimed his spot.

"Prosser congratulated me and said, 'You might never, ever step on the court,'" Williams said. "In the back of my mind, I thought I might get to play, but I got his point that being a walk-on is not a glamorous position."

Nor has it proven to be so. Freshman year as a walk-on Williams' role was minimal. He sat out a lot during practice ¯ not games. At 170 pounds, he wasn't strong enough for many drills. Sophomore season his role grew with the addition of ten pounds."I'm still athletically challenged when compared to guys like Josh Howard," Williams said. "But I'm able to do more, which is good because Prosser demands more of me."

One of those demands is that walk-ons arrive 30 minutes early for practice in order to learn the next opponent's offense.

Like actors, they are given roles as players from the opposing team ¯ be it guard Chris Duhon from Duke, guard Steve Blake from Maryland, or even forward Travis Watson from Virginia.

During practice, they simulate those players' style of play and the team's offensive motion to help the team prepare for its next game.

The coaching staff demanded less from the walk-ons in one instance this season, but Williams gave more. Williams approached Assistant Coach Chris Mack and asked him if he wanted him to do the preseason conditioning. Mack, knowing the challenge of Prosser's preseason workouts, smiled and asked, "Do you want to?"

"I chose to do it because I want the guys to respect me, not as a walk-on," Williams said, "but as a member of the team."

Assistant Coach Dino Gaudio said there's no question about that. "Once guys are on the team, they're on the team. Everyone is treated with respect.

"It's a tough job (being a walk-on). You put in a tremendous amount of time, you're not on scholarship and you rarely get to play," Gaudio said.

A walk-on puts in 20 hours a week for practice, plus study hall, individual shoot around and watching film. That's a lot for a player not on scholarship who seldom plays in games.

During his two seasons with the team, Williams played only 16 games. Although his time with the basketball team has had it's up and downs, and although he sees limited action, he remains determined to finish playing the four years of basketball he was promised.