ALL-AREA: Aycock's Williams selected boys' top hoops player

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 19, 2014 11:30 PM

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The All-Area second team is comprised of Cody Ivey (North Duplin), Micah Smith (Eastern Wayne), Joel Davis (WCDS), Myron Carmon (Goldsboro), Michael Wooten (Princeton) and "sixth man" Victor Jenkins (Faith Christian).

"It's a tremendous and rare opportunity when you coach a kid like that on your team," Morgan said. "The nice thing is he is a really cerebral kid in terms of the game ... a sponge in terms of learning things. Gosh, I would love to have the chance to coach him for a few more years ... wish he was a sophomore and not a senior.

Opposing coaches certainly won't shed any tears over Morgan's loss.

Williams was the No. 1 priority on their scouting report this past season. The versatile shooting forward could step out and take the 3, but developed a more aggressive style of play during this past AAU season. His physicality in the paint drew double and triple teams, which allowed him to kick the ball out to open teammates.

The Golden Falcons hit enough shots to keep opposing defenses honest.

Morgan and his staff constantly tweaked their game-day strategy because they understood the burden Williams shouldered each time he stepped onto the court.

"Mike was the key guy that everybody looked to for leadership, a big rebound, a big defensive play, a big offensive score," Morgan said. "There was a lot on his shoulders each night and most nights he came through pretty big, and gave us a chance to be competitive.

"We had to make sure we could get him the ball in places where hopefully he could be successful."

Unselfishness proved to be Williams' biggest asset.

"Other coaches' gameplans really had nothing to do with what I had to do," said Williams, who earned all-state 3-A recognition from NCPreps.com.

"It's a team thing. Everybody wants to score, everybody wants to play and it's just a matter of sharing the ball. I knew teams were going to be focused on me, so when somebody else starts scoring, they're going to have to look at that person. They just can't focus on me."

Maybe not in high school, but certainly in college.