(St. Louis, MO) – Kent Williams is the poster child for ‘local boy does good.” The Mount Vernon, Illinois native has been elected to the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame. After a stellar prep career, Williams scored over 2,000 college points for Southern Illinois University.
Williams is a part of three other halls of fame (SIU, Mount Vernon High and Illinois Basketball Coaches) and is the all-time leading scorer at Mount Vernon Township High. His 2,012 Saluki points make him the second leading scorer in Egyptian Dawg history.
The former guard was a part of an historic run at SIU, and his high school career was spectacular. During the historic run of the old ‘KMOX High School Shootout’ in downtown St. Louis, Williams set the single game scoring record. His little Mount Vernon team faced Jamal Crawford and his team from the great northwest.
Williams says he grew up watching those star-studded games and was thrilled to be a part of those showcases of games.
Remembering Weber & Korver
Now, a high school coach in suburban St. Louis County, Williams coached collegiately at Missouri State, Tennessee and Southern Illinois Edwardsville. While coaching at Tennessee and under current Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin and with current SIUE coach Jon Harris, Williams helped the Volunteers to a Sweet Sixteen appearance.
His first college coach was current Kansas State coach Bruce Weber. While looking back at his SIU years Williams talks about how Weber promoted confidence and toughness in his players. He remembers his friendly rivalry with Creighton great and NBA sharp-shooter Kyle Korver.
Barry Hinson has vivid Kent Williams memories. The current SIU coach was coaching at Missouri State during Williams’ career. I asked him to define Kent and Barry’s words were uncharacteristically short.
“This is all you need to know,” said Hinson. “I have two words for you. ‘Shot fake’. He had the greatest shot fake in our league.”
The Induction Ceremony
On the Saturday of Arch Madness, Williams will be inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame and Williams says it will be a special night his family. He says his young children don’t really know about his basketball career, so it will be fun to share that part of his life with them.
Williams is still in unbelief. How does a guy from Mount Vernon, Illinois end up with so many honors? He never planned it or guessed it could happen.
It’s reassuring when a local guy does good.
Do Good
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