B.J. Williams is headed to Temple University after signing a national letter of intent Thursday afternoon. Williams, who didn't play her junior season, helped lead the Gators to the IAAM A Conference tournament finals.
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As she secured her immediate future by signing a national letter of intent to play basketball for Temple University Thursday afternoon, B.J. Williams flashed back to early last spring. The Seton Keough High playmaker had missed the Gators' season because of academics and was unsure whether an opportunity to play on the Division I level would come.
"There was times I thought I wasn't going to get recruited because everything was academics," said Williams. "It's fixed now, and I'm going to Temple."
Williams' next stop in her basketball career is the "City of Brotherly Love," where she'll join a Temple program coming off a 21-13 season and a NCAA Tournament appearance. She selected the Atlantic 10 Conference school over East Carolina, Rhode Island, Rutgers and Virginia Commonwealth.
"They [Temple] stood by me the whole time and was straight up with me," said Williams, who announced her intentions to sign with the Owls last month.
At times unstoppable with the ball in her hands, Williams averaged nine points and six assists for the Gators, who won the IAAM A Conference regular season crown and held the area's No. 1 ranking for most of the season. Seton Keough lost to eventual No. 1 St. Frances Academy in the IAAM A tournament championship game.
Despite the loss, it was a far cry from her junior season which never took full flight as she was academically ineligible after emerging as one of the area's up-and-coming stars as a sophomore. Williams said the experience matured her on and off the court.
"I think that she realized she let her down and let herself down," said Seton Keough coach Jackie Boswell. "That's an learning experience. Her teammates are very grateful to her for getting back on the floor.
B.J. was little concerned at the beginning of the year about being recruited. My role was keeping her confidence level up, keep her focus on what she needed to do this year and she needed to lead our team and do well on the floor. The college stuff would take care of itself."
Temple started recruiting Williams late in the regular season. Williams could receive major playing time as a freshman next season playing under Owls' coach Dawn Staley, a three-time All-American at Virginia in the early 1990s and is regarded as one of the best point guards in women's college basketball history.
Williams has started doing intense physical training as she said Staley told her she was "out of shape." Considering where she was a year ago, Williams is definetely in good standing.
"She knew what she had to get back out on that floor and did it," said Boswell. "She also knew what she had to do for her future. Now, she's got a future."