Between high-school ball and the club circuit, summer basketball can be a grind for elite players.
But when people notice the work they’re putting in, it all seems worth it.
So it is for Amari Williams, a 6-9 rising junior at Shepard who is more and more on the national radar. He was invited to the prestigious Nike Elite 100 Camp and also is starting to draw college interest.
Williams has recently been in contact with Brown of the Ivy League, along with Kent State and Illinois State, among others.
“Me seeing all the college coaches reach out to me … it just boosts my head even more,” Williams said at the Shepard Summer Shootout on June 20. “Just (makes me want to) go harder than I did the previous day.”
A varsity mainstay since he arrived at Shepard, Williams averaged 9.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.4 blocks last season.
He’s looking to boost those numbers for what will be a young Astros team that will have just two seniors along with a bunch of juniors this winter.
“I really just want to improve my game all-around,” he said. “I know I had a lot of stuff to improve on … but then I wanted to show coaches that I could do way more.
“I know coaches have talked to coaches that I’m close with, saying that I should improve on my jump shot and stuff. That’s … stuff I’ve been working on during the summer and overall.”
And as a third-year varsity player, he added, “I’d just like to work on being a better leader. …
“A lot of the kids coming up, although them being my friends, I know I’m going to have to take it more serious,” Williams said. “Because I know that they just came up from JV and that’s a big jump. … I have to be more mature, because normally we had older people (before).”
Mustangs eye better days
The rebuild continues at St. Rita, which went 12-20 last winter and had its first Catholic League wins in three seasons under first-year coach Jim Sexton.
His second Mustangs team has some talent and experience.
“(Point guard) Angelo Adams has been really good on offense,” Sexton said at the Shepard Shootout. “Mike Hampton has been doing a really good job on both ends of the floor. Our bigs, Blake Lisula and Will Loehr, have been active around the basket. … Mikey Flynn is a senior, a lefty shooter who shot it really well over the summer.”
The key to success this season?
“We’ve just got to keep improving on defense and rebounding,” Sexton said. “… We just go into scoring droughts where if we can be better defensively (we can) make up for those scoring droughts.”
In year two, Sexton is tweaking the Mustangs’ identity.
“We’re not flying up and down as much as normal,” he said. “We decided to play a little slower … and we’re not pressing as much as we used to. … But it’s a pretty good group and we’re learning.”