Thursday, October 28, 2004
SPORTS AND BREMERTONIANS HALL OF FAME -- MARVIN WILLIAMS
Then...
Now.
Behold the greatest player to ever don a Bremerton basketball uniform. Marvin Williams was already a highly-touted player coming out of 8th grade, as there was debate even then about whether he was going to go to Seattle to attend the private O'Dea High School in Seattle or if he was going to stay in Bremerton and eventually wear the blue and gold (yellow). He chose to stay in B-town to, as he once said, put Bremerton on the map. That's exactly what he did.
Basketball came easy to the humble Bremertonian, who held a job during his high school years at a local Red Apple supermarket. There's a few Google caches below from the now-defunct version of the Sun website that are stat reports from around the Narrows League where Marvin is averaging well above 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, and the runners-up in the categories aren't even close.
Needless to say, given the state of most Bremerton athletics, a talent like Marvin was instantly recognized as a hope for the school, and since the whole thing got big enough, the hope of a city. Unfortunately for all involved, Marvin wasn't exactly blessed with the best supporting casts in Bremerton basketball history on the court. Hence, another state title run would remain something that would elude Bremerton High School as it has since 1999.
From personal experience, I was fortunate enough to catch a game at the ol' gym last winter, and it was Central Kitsap at Bremerton. Marvin threw down quite the dunk in the early going, but the team played sloppy, whether it was bad passes, losing the dribble, getting the ball stolen, forced shots; it was brutal to watch. If you triple-team Marvin and he's the only one who can score, that's asking a lot from Marvin if you're expecting to win games. Thus, not as many games were won as the Knights and then-coach Casey Lindberg (himself a three-point recordholder in Knight history) had wanted.
But another thing that captivated locals was the college recruitment process that was going on. Lorenzo Romar? Roy Williams? These people aren't supposed to come to Bremerton, right? But come they did.
Roy Williams, then coach at Kansas at the time of his first recruitment of Marvin, later landed him as new coach at North Carolina. So now the nation should get to see what a gifted athlete and player Marvin is, and that most likely will be better obtained as he'll get to play a position more in tune with his skills (i.e., not center, especially at that level with his height), and will have no shortage of great players playing around him on the court at any given time.
There's too much more to write about -- the summer league teams, the elite basketball camps and tournaments, the fact that the Knights got to play in KeyArena, the fact that he was a McDonald's high school All-American, the list goes on.
Yes, Marvin Williams, the greatest basketball player in Bremerton history, now begins his first of four years under the tutelage of Roy Williams, and begins his foray into the world of ACC basketball. Also, Marvin will make Stuart Scott run his trap at ESPN, but it'll be at least a tiny bit more bearable knowing that a B-towner is making him do it.
Good luck, Marvin, you've made us proud already, and we know you'll keep it up.
LINKS
the Google Sun search
SLAM Online Diary
NBADraft.net profile
HoopsHype Draft Prospects
NBADRAFT.TK profile
ESPN Marvin Williams page
TarHeelBlue.com bio
Carolina-TarHeels.com page
Yahoo! Sports ACC Handbook Preseason Top 25 (scroll down to the Rookie of the Year prediction)
DOOK SUCKS!
They're Baaaaack! UNC's Recovery Almost Complete -- Duke Basketball Report, 10 Aug 2004
Freshman is excited to be a Tar Heel -- Raleigh News-Observer, 2 Jun 2004
Help is on the way for May -- The Robesonian, 22 Apr 2004
Marvin Williams will not enter NBA draft -- Inside Carolina, 16 Apr 2004
Meet PARADE's All-America Boys Basketball Team -- Parade, 4 Apr 2004
On the road again -- 27 Mar 2004, Bremerton Sun
Marvin hits the road for 'scouting' trip -- 23 Mar 2004, Bremerton Sun
Stat report -- 21 Feb 2004, Bremerton Sun
Stat report -- 15 Feb 2004, Bremerton Sun
Stat report -- 3 Feb 2004, Bremerton Sun
Marvin throws down 42 points, 25 boards -- 29 Jan 2004, Bremerton Sun
Prep Friday: Wear the Knights -- 10 Jan 2004, Bremerton Sun (scroll down)
2003: Looking Back -- 4 Jan 2004, Bremerton Sun (item A)
Stat report -- 25 Dec 2003, Bremerton Sun
Knights throwing it down -- 13 Dec 2003, Bremerton Sun
Marvin's triple-double leads Knights -- 11 Dec 2003, Bremerton Sun
The Rising Star -- 26 Nov 2003, Bremerton Sun
Williams will join Williams at N.C. -- SportsIllustrated.com
Where the top-ranked recruits landed for college -- USA Today, 21 Nov 2003
Another good decision for Marvin -- 5 Jul 2003, Bremerton Sun
Marvin makes his choice Friday -- 1 Jul 2003, Bremerton Sun
USA BASKETBALL: Five All-Americans Listed Among 2003 USA Basketball Men’s Youth Development Festival Rosters -- US Olympic Committee, 19 Jun 2003
Marvin the Road Warrior -- 6 Jun 2003, Bremerton Sun
Williams chooses trio to visit -- 14 May 2003, Bremerton Sun
Choices, choices, choices -- 2 May 2003, Bremerton Sun
Giant step for Knights -- 13 Feb 2003, Bremerton Sun
Tides slow to rise, so Knights sail -- 8 Feb 2003, Bremerton Sun
TheFinalScore.tv profile (circa 2002-2003)
The Top 10 West Sound Sports Stories of 2002 -- 29 Dec 2002, Bremerton Sun (item 3)
Knights' Williams picks six -- 16 Nov 2002, Bremerton Sun
Now.
Behold the greatest player to ever don a Bremerton basketball uniform. Marvin Williams was already a highly-touted player coming out of 8th grade, as there was debate even then about whether he was going to go to Seattle to attend the private O'Dea High School in Seattle or if he was going to stay in Bremerton and eventually wear the blue and gold (yellow). He chose to stay in B-town to, as he once said, put Bremerton on the map. That's exactly what he did.
Basketball came easy to the humble Bremertonian, who held a job during his high school years at a local Red Apple supermarket. There's a few Google caches below from the now-defunct version of the Sun website that are stat reports from around the Narrows League where Marvin is averaging well above 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, and the runners-up in the categories aren't even close.
Needless to say, given the state of most Bremerton athletics, a talent like Marvin was instantly recognized as a hope for the school, and since the whole thing got big enough, the hope of a city. Unfortunately for all involved, Marvin wasn't exactly blessed with the best supporting casts in Bremerton basketball history on the court. Hence, another state title run would remain something that would elude Bremerton High School as it has since 1999.
From personal experience, I was fortunate enough to catch a game at the ol' gym last winter, and it was Central Kitsap at Bremerton. Marvin threw down quite the dunk in the early going, but the team played sloppy, whether it was bad passes, losing the dribble, getting the ball stolen, forced shots; it was brutal to watch. If you triple-team Marvin and he's the only one who can score, that's asking a lot from Marvin if you're expecting to win games. Thus, not as many games were won as the Knights and then-coach Casey Lindberg (himself a three-point recordholder in Knight history) had wanted.
But another thing that captivated locals was the college recruitment process that was going on. Lorenzo Romar? Roy Williams? These people aren't supposed to come to Bremerton, right? But come they did.
Roy Williams, then coach at Kansas at the time of his first recruitment of Marvin, later landed him as new coach at North Carolina. So now the nation should get to see what a gifted athlete and player Marvin is, and that most likely will be better obtained as he'll get to play a position more in tune with his skills (i.e., not center, especially at that level with his height), and will have no shortage of great players playing around him on the court at any given time.
There's too much more to write about -- the summer league teams, the elite basketball camps and tournaments, the fact that the Knights got to play in KeyArena, the fact that he was a McDonald's high school All-American, the list goes on.
Yes, Marvin Williams, the greatest basketball player in Bremerton history, now begins his first of four years under the tutelage of Roy Williams, and begins his foray into the world of ACC basketball. Also, Marvin will make Stuart Scott run his trap at ESPN, but it'll be at least a tiny bit more bearable knowing that a B-towner is making him do it.
Good luck, Marvin, you've made us proud already, and we know you'll keep it up.
LINKS
the Google Sun search
SLAM Online Diary
NBADraft.net profile
HoopsHype Draft Prospects
NBADRAFT.TK profile
ESPN Marvin Williams page
TarHeelBlue.com bio
Carolina-TarHeels.com page
Yahoo! Sports ACC Handbook Preseason Top 25 (scroll down to the Rookie of the Year prediction)
DOOK SUCKS!
They're Baaaaack! UNC's Recovery Almost Complete -- Duke Basketball Report, 10 Aug 2004
Freshman is excited to be a Tar Heel -- Raleigh News-Observer, 2 Jun 2004
Help is on the way for May -- The Robesonian, 22 Apr 2004
Marvin Williams will not enter NBA draft -- Inside Carolina, 16 Apr 2004
Meet PARADE's All-America Boys Basketball Team -- Parade, 4 Apr 2004
On the road again -- 27 Mar 2004, Bremerton Sun
Marvin hits the road for 'scouting' trip -- 23 Mar 2004, Bremerton Sun
Stat report -- 21 Feb 2004, Bremerton Sun
Stat report -- 15 Feb 2004, Bremerton Sun
Stat report -- 3 Feb 2004, Bremerton Sun
Marvin throws down 42 points, 25 boards -- 29 Jan 2004, Bremerton Sun
Prep Friday: Wear the Knights -- 10 Jan 2004, Bremerton Sun (scroll down)
2003: Looking Back -- 4 Jan 2004, Bremerton Sun (item A)
Stat report -- 25 Dec 2003, Bremerton Sun
Knights throwing it down -- 13 Dec 2003, Bremerton Sun
Marvin's triple-double leads Knights -- 11 Dec 2003, Bremerton Sun
The Rising Star -- 26 Nov 2003, Bremerton Sun
Williams will join Williams at N.C. -- SportsIllustrated.com
Where the top-ranked recruits landed for college -- USA Today, 21 Nov 2003
Another good decision for Marvin -- 5 Jul 2003, Bremerton Sun
Marvin makes his choice Friday -- 1 Jul 2003, Bremerton Sun
USA BASKETBALL: Five All-Americans Listed Among 2003 USA Basketball Men’s Youth Development Festival Rosters -- US Olympic Committee, 19 Jun 2003
Marvin the Road Warrior -- 6 Jun 2003, Bremerton Sun
Williams chooses trio to visit -- 14 May 2003, Bremerton Sun
Choices, choices, choices -- 2 May 2003, Bremerton Sun
Giant step for Knights -- 13 Feb 2003, Bremerton Sun
Tides slow to rise, so Knights sail -- 8 Feb 2003, Bremerton Sun
TheFinalScore.tv profile (circa 2002-2003)
The Top 10 West Sound Sports Stories of 2002 -- 29 Dec 2002, Bremerton Sun (item 3)
Knights' Williams picks six -- 16 Nov 2002, Bremerton Sun
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