Stavon is movin’ on
Despite being part of the winningest men’s basketball team in USU history, sharp-shooting guard Stavon Williams has decided to leave the team due to personal reasons.
“The reason I signed was because of James Ware, me and him had a tight relationship … and I knew it was going to be hard for me going so far away from my family,” Williams said. “When he left it was a month before the season so I’m already signed and it’s already a hassle to decommit and go through that whole process.”
Ware joined the Aggies as an assistant coach in 2006 and stayed with the Aggies for two seasons before taking an assistant coaching job at Santa Clara University last June. Ware, a former Utah Jazz draftee, hails from Williams’ native Minnesota and the two formed a tight bond.
With Ware’s departure before the season and Williams’ preseason troubles, his short USU career was nearly over before it took place.
“I wasn’t playing well and I wasn’t producing like I thought I was going to and I was just going through all the things I went through at the beginning of the year, the little trouble I got in and whatnot,” Williams said. “I was going to leave at semester, but then another player left and I was like I don’t want to do that to the team.”
The Aggies are sure glad he stuck around. Williams played in 34 of USU’s 35 games this season, and though he only averaged six points per contest he was deadly from beyond the arc. He knocked down nearly 43 percent of his 3-pointers and sparked the Aggie offense on several occasions.
One of Williams more memorable moments came on the Spectrum floor against league foe Nevada. After trailing at the half, Williams scored eight straight points during a critical stretch in the second half that pushed USU to an 11-point win.
Williams said playing in front of the Spectrum crowd is something that he will miss a lot, and really made his decision to leave a tough one.
“It made it so much harder – the fans are great, they’re just amazing,” he said. “They’ll come out every game no matter what, if we’re losing they’re still up there cheering hard still packed and everything.”
Along with the thrill of playing under the Spectrum lights – a thrill he said “sent shivers up his spine” – Williams will also miss his teammates.
“I’m going to remember how great of teammates I had because they were so supportive,” he said. “I’ve never been around a group of guys like that, period, in my life. I’ve never been on a team with so many positive players and just nice, kind … like a family.”
As Williams leaves one family to return to another, the Aggies are now faced with replacing his team-leading outside shot, his 18 minutes of playing time per game, and arguably their most important role player.
The junior said he was grateful for his experience here and expressed his love for the Aggie faithful.
“I’ve got so much to say, I thank them for supporting me everywhere. They were the best fans that you could ever have. I don’t want people to look at me like oh he’s leaving, because it’s not like that at all,” Williams said. “It’s just personal reasons and I feel like everyone should understand that. It’s nothing about Utah State because it’s the best school and the best fans I’ve ever played in front of – the best people, period.”
Williams said he is looking to return closer to either family in Minnesota or Texas, but he’s not sure where he’ll end up or whether he’ll be playing Division I or II basketball.
“I definitely want to stay Division I, but if it’s anything like not a full ride than I’m going to go Division II,” he said. “I’d rather be somewhere where I’m close to home.”
Williams also said he would always have a place in his heart for the school and its fans.
“I’m going to keep in touch with all the players and everyone. Hopefully I still get love from my fellow Utah Aggies on Facebook,” he said. “I just hope they still have love for me, because I have love for them.”
Williams is leaving a team that set a school record with 30 wins this past season and came within a point of making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.
“I was proud that I got to play on this team; 30-5 is something I’ll never forget,” said Williams as he walked away.
Neither will the Aggies.
–t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu