USC commit Andrew Williams proves City still has football talent

It was 7 am, and Andrew Williams of Fremont High was sleeping with his grandmother in southern Los Angeles when she woke her up to tell her that a USC football coach wanted to speak to her on his cell phone before going to school.

Williams will never forget this moment on February 12. Defensive line coach Eric Henderson officially called a scholarship to play for Trojan horses.

“You don’t believe it before you see it,” he said. “When he told me in his tone and how serious he was, I knew it was real. It was the destiny of appeal. It took me a few hours to reflect what was going on. I was amazed.”

At lunchtime in the school quad, when he was surrounded by friends and classmates, the 6 -foot 5 -inch and 220 pounds Williams called Henderson to say: “I’m ready to become a Troy.”

Henderson replied: “Wait. I have someone who wants to talk to you. “

Coach Lincoln Riley joined the call.

“He said,” We are delighted to have you here. “It was authentic,” he said.

Andrew Williams, senior of Fremont High, showed his versatility as a defensive, tight and rear.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Williams was so unknown in the world of recruitment before engaging in the USC last February that it said: “I was not mentioned by any recruitment site. I had no stars. Honestly, that didn’t make me different. I was the same player before the stars and without the stars. Most people still don’t know about me. ”

He said that a three -tacted performance and 10 tackles as a junior against the Jordan last fall while playing in the back, the defensive and the receiver drew the attention of the colorado state assistant, Chad Savage, who then joined the USC as assistant.

The recruitment of players in downtown Los Angeles was a priority for the USC and the UCLA. Fremont Grad Ricky Bell, a star who runs for the USC, has his name on the Pathfinders stadium. The Fremont Mark Bradford graduate was a star receiver in Stanford. Crenshaw has sent many players to the USC and UCLA. Dorsey’s head coach Stafon Johnson was a bearer of off competition for Trojan horses.

But a drop in talents in the city section has made the identification of potential success stories more difficult. Williams, who has a cumulative weighted average of 3.8 and plans to graduate in December, said that he hoped to be part of the start of a rebirth in the defendant in the city center.

“I am comfortable with the people who look at me,” he said. “Someone in the city actually does. Just as I can do, you too. ”

There is no doubt that the coming road remains difficult.

“I think I was one of the least privileged children,” he said. “To have the opportunity I do now. … If I was another child from 6 to 5 years old who was not central South, I would have been known. They would have shot me in the ranking. They don’t show that in the city I love. It’s cool. It is for them to continue sleeping on us. ”

Living at 10 Partés de Maisons de Fremont with his grandmother since the age of 7, Williams said that he had not discovered football before his first year. He said that he had too much free time until he reaches his secondary studies and finding something to focus on.

“Have you heard the saying:” People are stuck and lost in the system? ” People become the product of their environment, “he said. “I needed time to understand my way. I realized when I came to high school that something was going to happen. ”

With its size, athletics – it can dip – and agility – it also ran the track – USC will look at it this fall to see if its position will be a tight or defensive. It is a raw and intriguing perspective with a lot of room to become stronger.

Fremont’s first year coach Derek Benton was Jordan’s coach last season when Williams had his big match.

“He made his mark against me, then I knew and heard of him and it was one of the attractions that came here,” he said. “I am very impressed by Andrew as a person.”

Everything Williams wanted was an opportunity to graduate at university. He wants to study communications and inquire about sports broadcasting. He said he didn’t need to visit several colleges or ask for attention on social networks. The USC offer was sufficient.

“Football teaches that you cannot expect results without work,” he said. “People expect things in life, but they don’t put work. This is a lesson that football teaches you. He teaches unity, leadership, how to treat others. ”

He was rewarded for making good decisions and surrounding himself with people who want to see him succeed. All he always wanted was a chance to prove himself.

“I do my thing,” he said.