With odds stacked against him and no clear path or direction Corey "Homicide" Williams turned his dreams of being a professional basketball player into reality. Corey's love for basketball started at an early age as he played high school basketball for Rice High School, a New York city hotbed for talent. Corey's experience at the powerhouse high school was a challenging one as he was overlooked due to his other talented teammates. That experience hurt him as he received little to no interest from big time division 1 colleges. Corey would spend 2 yrs at a community college in Kansas before attending Alabama State averaging 13 points at the small Division one University his senior year. After college was done Corey knew his dream was to play professionally but no one paid him any attention once again. "Everybody wants the guy who can play now.Nobody wants the guy who needs to develop" Williams said. Williams knew he was a late bloomer but was more determined than ever. Williams would send highlight tapes to agents, and attend camps
all in effort to market himself.It was tough for williams as some of the camps were money scams, and very few agents were eager to take him as a client.In 2005 Corey would play in competitive tournaments around New York city. Corey played in nine summer tournaments and recalls having 3 games in one day. Corey played tremendously eventually getting the nickname "Homicide" because he was destroying all his opponents all summer long. The buzz around this underrated player began to spread and surfaced when he scored 47 points in a famous tournament known as the Entertainers Basketball Classic. The televised game hit the eyes of the NBA's own Toronto Raptors organization who invited him to tryout for the team. Williams now went from playing in parks to trying out for an NBA franchise. Williams would make it to the last round of cut before being released only due to a former player who recovered from injury. "Let's see what I can create out of not making the NBA' I got this close. Few people ever get the opportunity to go to a training camp, much less make an NBA team. I take the positive out of every negative situation and continue to move forward"
Williams states. Williams success would come shortly as he played in the NBA Development League, CBA, and made his way overseas in the National Basketball League in Australia were he won a League MVP in his last season. Things only got better for Williams as he was approach by a sneaker company called k1x who would sign William's to a contract and launched his signature shoe. Williams would be the first non-NBA player to have his own signature sneaker sold around the world. At the age of 36, Williams is still going strong playing in Europe and living out his dream as a professional athlete. But what Corey wants people to get out of his story is "that it wasn't easy". "So many guys start with big hopes in school and either their coach gets fired or they fall out of the rotation and now they're stuck, it doesn't mean they can't play they just low on confidence". The Bronx native is a mentor to many, to most who know him and are friends on Facebook or twitter you will see his coined hash tag of #famousnobodi. That describes his success under the radar. In a facebook conversation Williams states "Charles, You can make it coming from the playground, it is not easy, there will be tough times and no guarantees but, it can be done if you want it bad enough". With no agent, no clear path, Corey Williams defied the odds and made people notice him and has made a successful career out of it.
all in effort to market himself.It was tough for williams as some of the camps were money scams, and very few agents were eager to take him as a client.In 2005 Corey would play in competitive tournaments around New York city. Corey played in nine summer tournaments and recalls having 3 games in one day. Corey played tremendously eventually getting the nickname "Homicide" because he was destroying all his opponents all summer long. The buzz around this underrated player began to spread and surfaced when he scored 47 points in a famous tournament known as the Entertainers Basketball Classic. The televised game hit the eyes of the NBA's own Toronto Raptors organization who invited him to tryout for the team. Williams now went from playing in parks to trying out for an NBA franchise. Williams would make it to the last round of cut before being released only due to a former player who recovered from injury. "Let's see what I can create out of not making the NBA' I got this close. Few people ever get the opportunity to go to a training camp, much less make an NBA team. I take the positive out of every negative situation and continue to move forward"
Williams states. Williams success would come shortly as he played in the NBA Development League, CBA, and made his way overseas in the National Basketball League in Australia were he won a League MVP in his last season. Things only got better for Williams as he was approach by a sneaker company called k1x who would sign William's to a contract and launched his signature shoe. Williams would be the first non-NBA player to have his own signature sneaker sold around the world. At the age of 36, Williams is still going strong playing in Europe and living out his dream as a professional athlete. But what Corey wants people to get out of his story is "that it wasn't easy". "So many guys start with big hopes in school and either their coach gets fired or they fall out of the rotation and now they're stuck, it doesn't mean they can't play they just low on confidence". The Bronx native is a mentor to many, to most who know him and are friends on Facebook or twitter you will see his coined hash tag of #famousnobodi. That describes his success under the radar. In a facebook conversation Williams states "Charles, You can make it coming from the playground, it is not easy, there will be tough times and no guarantees but, it can be done if you want it bad enough". With no agent, no clear path, Corey Williams defied the odds and made people notice him and has made a successful career out of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment