VALENCIA (ACB) - Shammond Williams began another professional season in style on Sunday, pouring in 25 points to lead Pamesa Valencia to a come-from-behind victory over CAI Zaragoza.
The Spanish club is hoping the 33-year-old point guard will help the team challenge for honours in the ACB, just as he has helped most of his teams compete for trophies since his days as a standout collegian at the University of North Carolina.
Williams surprised a lot of people when he earned a scholarship in the 1990s and played for Tar Heels legend Dean Smith, the coach who was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame last year in Spain.
Jeff Taylor bumped into Williams in Valencia last week at the Supercopa Femenina and interviewed the Tar Heel great for FIBA.Com.
FIBA: Shammond, it’s been a long time since your Tar Heel days. You last played for the Heels at the NCAA Final Four in 1997. Tell us what you’re doing now and how life has changed.
Shammond Williams: I’m here in Valencia, Spain. That’s the biggest change in my life since then, living abroad as opposed to living in the States. I’ve been able to take my game from college to the NBA level, to Europe. I’ve been able to play at all levels and I’m happy with the success that I’ve had, as well as the cultures that I’ve encountered.
FIBA: So what is the game like in Europe compared to the United States?
Shammond Williams: The game in Europe is similar to the collegiate basketball game. The game isn’t predicated on individuals, but on the team. You have to play an intelligent game to be successful. What you do on the court as a team gives you a chance to be an elite team, the type of focus that you have. Playing in Europe, this is what you learn. I’m very appreciative of what I learned at the University of North Carolina under Coach Smith. It’s made it easier for me to adapt here, to utilize what I learned in college. That helps me individually, but also my teammates.
FIBA: Who are the great coaches that you have been able to play for other than Coach Smith?
Shammond Williams: I’ve had the opportunity to play for Phil Jackson. I’ve the opportunity to play for Nate McMillan. One of my coaches who is a great coach that doesn’t get all of the credit that he deserves is Paul Westphal, by far. I had the chance to play for Doc Rivers and he’s a great coach. I’d say probably number one for me is Coach Smith. My high school coach, Fletcher Arritt at Fork Union Military Academy and the coach at my public (Greenville, South Carolina, Southside) high school, Mark Huff – those are the guys who gave me the basics, the know-how, the little things to help me become a better basketball player. As a youngster, I was able to use the insight to better my skills. They helped me evolve as a basketball player.
FIBA: Shammond, I also went to school in Chapel Hill and remember there were some people who were surprised that you were offered a scholarship. Did you feel like you had a lot to prove?
Shammond Williams: Oh yes! Coming out of high school, I didn’t have any scholarship offers. For someone not to have any scholarship offers and to then go to Fork Union Military Academy and to be recruited as one of the better guards in the country, well, a lot of the people who knew me back in South Carolina weren’t able to follow the progress that I had made. All they knew was that, `Hey, he’s going to the University of North Carolina.’ For me, it was something that really motivated me, made me decide that I wasn’t just going to North Carolina to get an education, but I wanted to become a good basketball player. I had no aspirations of playing in the NBA. The only aspirations I had were to be the best basketball player that I could be.
FIBA: If people were surprised that you went to a prestigious basketball school like UNC, they would have been even more surprised at what you achieved there.
Shammond Williams: I worked hard, stayed in the gym numerous nights. I ended up holding most of the records at the University of North Carolina for 10 years, probably.
FIBA: What is the greatest memory that you have from playing for North Carolina?
Shammond Williams: The greatest personal memory was the ACC Tournament in 1997. Coach really pushed me to do a lot of things offensively. I had an opportunity to control the team. He wanted me to be aggressive and to be the best player that I could become. We were not the favourites that year, but we won the tournament, beating Maryland, Wake Forest and North Carolina State and after winning that, I was named ACC (Tournament) MVP. Getting that acknowledgement, receiving that award really made me appreciate everything that I had done and learned. It was something that I will never forget. A lot of great players played in the ACC but there is only one ACC MVP every year. Going down in history as an ACC MVP like Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Johnny Dawkins, Bob McAdoo, Al Wood and Phil Ford - it was just a blessing and an honour. Once I have children, I’ll be able to tell them that I was ACC MVP.
FIBA: Since you have lived in so many places, have you been able to learn different languages? Did you learn Georgian when you played for their national team?
Shammond Williams: Georgian is pretty much Russian. I played with the Georgian national team but I didn’t live there. But I did live in Russia, I did learn some Russian and of course, I’ve learned Spanish.
FIBA: Shammond, all the hard work back in the college days and then in the NBA means that you now have a chance to live on the beach in Valencia. So you are really roughing it (laughing), are you?
Shammond Williams: It’s rough because you aren’t living in the United States but in a different culture, and it’s rough because I’m practicing twice a day. The best thing about living in these different countries and experiencing different cultures is that my family has the opportunity to see these places where I have been. I lived in Russia (UNICS Kazan), now I’m here in Spain. Every morning when I wake up, I look at the Mediterranean and that’s something that a lot of people from my community (back home), from my socio-economic background may never get an opportunity to experience. So my family gets to see and experience a different culture that they would have only seen on television.
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