The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Williams Ready to Shine at UAB
11/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Steve Irvine:
The moment came during a UAB men’s basketball preseason practice.
A transition break with Dirk Williams on one wing. The smooth junior college transfer gathered a pass from point guard Nick Norton, swiftly set his feet and fired a 3-pointer toward the basket. UAB head coach Jerod Haase blew the whistle and quickly asked the players why it was a bad shot. He got the answer he wanted but had another piece of advice for Williams.
“We want you shooting the ball, just not that one,” Haase said.
In other words, Williams’ long-range shooting will be a vital part of the UAB offensive attack in his first season for the Blazers. That ability, in fact, helps him fit into a roster that lost just one contributor from a year ago when the Blazers earned the Conference USA Tournament title and garnered national attention with a victory over No. 3 seed Iowa State in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“I actually thought about how I was going to fit in,” Williams said. “But, once I felt welcome and everybody kind of labeled me as a shooter, my confidence level started to rise. But there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.”
While he might be known as a shooter, it doesn’t take long to figure out that there is a lot more to his game. At 6-foot-5, 175 pounds with a formidable wing span, he’s built to be disruptive on the defensive end. He also has the ability to slash to the basket and has good jumping ability.
Now, the transfer from Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College just has to work into his role.
One of the selling points during his recruitment was the chance to return home for his final two years of college. For Williams, though, he viewed it more of a second chance in his hometown.
Williams grew up in Homewood. He quickly gravitated toward basketball, partly because his parents played the sport. His father, Dirk, played in college at Virginia Tech. Williams said his mother, Daklecia Frizzle, was an all-state basketball and volleyball player at Homewood High. Williams began playing when he was four years old.
“When I first held a basketball, it just felt really good,” Williams said.
However, Williams said, his schoolwork took a back seat after he entered Homewood High.
“My dad is from Virginia,” Williams said. “He was up there and my mom was here. I wasn’t doing well in school. I felt like I needed to get away.”
Williams enrolled at Williamsburg Christian Academy and flourished on the court. He said he committed to Virginia Tech during his senior year, but his final high school season lasted just 11 games because of academic deficiencies.
He wasn’t sure if his basketball days were over.
“My confidence level went all the way down,” Williams said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. There were still junior college coaches who had faith in me, and that really lifted my confidence back up. It felt good because I knew I had another route to get to Division I.”
He received a full scholarship to attend Tallahassee Community College and took full advantage of that particular second chance. Playing in the rugged Panhandle Conference, which is one of the best JUCO leagues in the country, Williams averaged more than 14 points in two seasons and was 143-of-354 (40.4 percent) from outside the 3-point arc during that time. He scored over 20 points 11 times as a sophomore, including a 31-point outing with seven 3-pointers.
It was during that time when he began talking to Haase and his coaching staff.
“When I first heard that UAB was a possible option for me, it was exciting because it wasn’t a school that was necessarily on my radar,” Williams said. “After talking to the coaches about playing for my hometown team, it made me feel wanted and I realized that I could help this team.”
Now he’s working toward helping his new teammates in his hometown. But he also doesn’t want to forget about what happened before he came back to Birmingham.
“I come in here and think ‘Wow, I finally made it to Division I’” Williams said. “It was a bumpy road for me, but I’m so happy I didn’t give up and I finally made it.”
For more information on UAB men’s basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), on Instagram (@blazerhoops) or on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABMensBasketball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
