Best Brock I can be’: Williams returns to Burlington Christian Academy with appetite for leadership role, success at home
David Kehrli
Times-News
The best bet for finding Brock Williams these days is likely a gym, where he’s hard at work fine-tuning his basketball craft.
Already having his athletic and academic future secured, the Burlington Christian Academy senior guard isn’t taking shortcuts, still putting in a steady stream of sweat equity.
“He'll come in on a Saturday when I open up the gym, we're putting up extra shots,” Burlington Christian Academy coach Eric Dudley said. “It's not like he's on cruise control right now.”
Now a High Point signee, Williams is back in the gym at the place he calls “home,” where he first jumped onto the area high school basketball scene three years ago as a BCA freshman who averaged 29.9 points a game.
“Towards the end of (last) season, I started talking to my parents about returning back to BCA because I knew BCA would have more in store for me,” Williams said. “I knew I could excel more at BCA and be the best Brock I can be at BCA because I always felt like BCA was home for me.”
Williams returned this season to BCA, where he says he feels like his playing style is a better fit, after spending a year at Greensboro Day School. He leads the Royals in scoring (27.5 points per game), assists (3.9 per game) and steals (3.9 per game).
“I wanted to come back to BCA because the (45-minute) drive was kind of overwhelming with me and my parents,” Williams said. “I feel like BCA will let me be more of myself and do more of the things that I'm good at. GDS was a good school, but it was more of not like the style of basketball I wanted to play. I also think GDS helped me learn more of the basics and fundamentals of basketball that every basketball player needs, but I just like BCA will let me let me do more of the things that I'm good at.”
Back at BCA, Williams has re-established himself as the catalyst for a Royals team that has produced an 11-2 overall record, often winning in convincing fashion with an average margin of victory of 20 points a game.
“It’s an incredible boost and anybody would be lucky to have Brock, especially with the ability to score the basketball,” Dudley said. “But one thing that has impressed me about Brock a lot this year is he is enjoying the game of basketball and he is an incredible teammate. He’s cheering for his guys. He passes the ball to one of them and he's already holding his hands up as if they're gonna make the shot. I feel like he's been very positive. He's been easy to coach. We’ll text after games about things he can do better.”
Williams joined a returning core group for the Royals that includes Brock Matheny, an all-league selection in the Triangle-Triad Athletic Conference a season ago, Connor Johnson, all-league honorable mention last season, and Sam Cobler, a solid defender.
“Losing six seniors last year, I was going to have no seniors,” Dudley said. “So Brock has brought that senior stability, that experience and so, of course, all of that is great, but just his basketball ability alone is incredible. He controls the pace of the game. That’s what a Division I coach is looking for. So you see that when you're watching him play. He knows when to speed up. He knows when to slow down.”
Williams has scored 30 points or more in four games this year, but the leaps made in aspects of his game outside of scoring have been just as valuable.
“I’m telling you, it doesn't feel like he's scoring 25-30 points a game,” Dudley said. “But when you look at the book at the end of the night, you're like, ‘Wow, he did all of that,’ not just because he's playing unselfishly but he’s willing the success of other guys and just wanting to win basketball games.”
Josiah Watkins, a sophomore transfer from The Burlington School, has provided an additional spark as the Royals are meshing and finding their grove, improving upon a 9-14 record in the 2019-20 season.
“I feel like we've added some key pieces and then our guys are buying in and playing well together,” Dudley said. “They seem like they're enjoying playing the game together, so that's helping for sure.”
While his time playing with high-level college prospects at Greensboro Day School provided him with valuable learning experiences, Williams said the opportunity to pave his own path as a leader at Burlington Christian Academy appealed to him.
“I wanted to kind of take a different route from GDS,” Williams said. “I wanted to start my own path."
Williams played alongside Cam Hayes, now a freshman guard at North Carolina State, and Carson McCorkle, a freshman guard at Virginia, while at Greensboro Day.
“It actually helped a lot playing with Cam Hayes and Carson McCorkle, two top high school recruits,” Williams said. “It actually taught me a lot more about basketball. I also could get my players involved more because I also didn't have to do as much as I did at BCA.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Williams said he considered potentially sitting out his senior season and instead focusing on preparing to join the High Point program.
“I didn't want to let my team down by sitting out,” he said. “I don't think that would have been the right thing to do. I wanted to just play it out, just try to win a state championship, try to win the conference championship.”
“What really drew me to High Point was the coaching,” Williams said. “Tubby Smith and how much of an honor it would be to play under him and teach me the game, how to play it the correct way. I feel like they let their players play and do what they do best. I also feel like that is a great school academically and athletically, too.”
Among his list of potential college suitors was Elon, located just minutes down the road from Williams’ home.
“I was considering (Elon) until I received the offer from High Point,” he said. “I just thought High Point would be more of a better fit for me. I kind of wanted to get away from home but I also wanted to stay close because Elon is literally like five minutes away from my house.”
David Kehrli
Times-News
The best bet for finding Brock Williams these days is likely a gym, where he’s hard at work fine-tuning his basketball craft.
Already having his athletic and academic future secured, the Burlington Christian Academy senior guard isn’t taking shortcuts, still putting in a steady stream of sweat equity.
“He'll come in on a Saturday when I open up the gym, we're putting up extra shots,” Burlington Christian Academy coach Eric Dudley said. “It's not like he's on cruise control right now.”
Now a High Point signee, Williams is back in the gym at the place he calls “home,” where he first jumped onto the area high school basketball scene three years ago as a BCA freshman who averaged 29.9 points a game.
“Towards the end of (last) season, I started talking to my parents about returning back to BCA because I knew BCA would have more in store for me,” Williams said. “I knew I could excel more at BCA and be the best Brock I can be at BCA because I always felt like BCA was home for me.”
Williams returned this season to BCA, where he says he feels like his playing style is a better fit, after spending a year at Greensboro Day School. He leads the Royals in scoring (27.5 points per game), assists (3.9 per game) and steals (3.9 per game).
“I wanted to come back to BCA because the (45-minute) drive was kind of overwhelming with me and my parents,” Williams said. “I feel like BCA will let me be more of myself and do more of the things that I'm good at. GDS was a good school, but it was more of not like the style of basketball I wanted to play. I also think GDS helped me learn more of the basics and fundamentals of basketball that every basketball player needs, but I just like BCA will let me let me do more of the things that I'm good at.”
Back at BCA, Williams has re-established himself as the catalyst for a Royals team that has produced an 11-2 overall record, often winning in convincing fashion with an average margin of victory of 20 points a game.
“It’s an incredible boost and anybody would be lucky to have Brock, especially with the ability to score the basketball,” Dudley said. “But one thing that has impressed me about Brock a lot this year is he is enjoying the game of basketball and he is an incredible teammate. He’s cheering for his guys. He passes the ball to one of them and he's already holding his hands up as if they're gonna make the shot. I feel like he's been very positive. He's been easy to coach. We’ll text after games about things he can do better.”
Williams joined a returning core group for the Royals that includes Brock Matheny, an all-league selection in the Triangle-Triad Athletic Conference a season ago, Connor Johnson, all-league honorable mention last season, and Sam Cobler, a solid defender.
“Losing six seniors last year, I was going to have no seniors,” Dudley said. “So Brock has brought that senior stability, that experience and so, of course, all of that is great, but just his basketball ability alone is incredible. He controls the pace of the game. That’s what a Division I coach is looking for. So you see that when you're watching him play. He knows when to speed up. He knows when to slow down.”
Williams has scored 30 points or more in four games this year, but the leaps made in aspects of his game outside of scoring have been just as valuable.
“I’m telling you, it doesn't feel like he's scoring 25-30 points a game,” Dudley said. “But when you look at the book at the end of the night, you're like, ‘Wow, he did all of that,’ not just because he's playing unselfishly but he’s willing the success of other guys and just wanting to win basketball games.”
Josiah Watkins, a sophomore transfer from The Burlington School, has provided an additional spark as the Royals are meshing and finding their grove, improving upon a 9-14 record in the 2019-20 season.
“I feel like we've added some key pieces and then our guys are buying in and playing well together,” Dudley said. “They seem like they're enjoying playing the game together, so that's helping for sure.”
While his time playing with high-level college prospects at Greensboro Day School provided him with valuable learning experiences, Williams said the opportunity to pave his own path as a leader at Burlington Christian Academy appealed to him.
“I wanted to kind of take a different route from GDS,” Williams said. “I wanted to start my own path."
Williams played alongside Cam Hayes, now a freshman guard at North Carolina State, and Carson McCorkle, a freshman guard at Virginia, while at Greensboro Day.
“It actually helped a lot playing with Cam Hayes and Carson McCorkle, two top high school recruits,” Williams said. “It actually taught me a lot more about basketball. I also could get my players involved more because I also didn't have to do as much as I did at BCA.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Williams said he considered potentially sitting out his senior season and instead focusing on preparing to join the High Point program.
“I didn't want to let my team down by sitting out,” he said. “I don't think that would have been the right thing to do. I wanted to just play it out, just try to win a state championship, try to win the conference championship.”
“What really drew me to High Point was the coaching,” Williams said. “Tubby Smith and how much of an honor it would be to play under him and teach me the game, how to play it the correct way. I feel like they let their players play and do what they do best. I also feel like that is a great school academically and athletically, too.”
Among his list of potential college suitors was Elon, located just minutes down the road from Williams’ home.
“I was considering (Elon) until I received the offer from High Point,” he said. “I just thought High Point would be more of a better fit for me. I kind of wanted to get away from home but I also wanted to stay close because Elon is literally like five minutes away from my house.”
