Kent Williams inducted into MVC Hall of Fame
ST. LOUIS - Southern Illinois men's basketball alumnus Kent Williams was inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame on Thursday morning. Williams, a Mount Vernon native, is SIU's second-leading scorer all-time with more than 2,000 career points.
"None of this happens without a great support system," Williams said. "You can't become a Hall of Famer, or have success, and do the things you want to do as a player or as a person without having the right people around you."
A 2003 SIU grad, Williams scored 2,012 points at Southern from 1999 to 2003, making him the Salukis' second-leading scorer all-time behind Charlie Vaughn. Williams is the only player in SIU history to lead the team in scoring four straight years, helping his team to the NCAA Tournament 2002 and 2003, including a run to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2002.
Williams was inducted into the SIU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. Williams was a first-team All-MVC (2002, 2003), and second-team Team All-MVC (2001) selection while earning MVC Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year (2000). A four-year starter, the Salukis went 88-42 during his career which included an NIT appearance (2000) in addition to the two NCAA berths.
"I was lucky enough to play in my backyard. I grew up in southern Illinois and grew up a fan of the Salukis," Williams said. "I got to be in a place where that support system could follow me, because like I said, it's not alone. You have a lot of people that are helping you. We even had Jefferson County day at games."
As a senior in 2003, he was runner-up to Creighton's Kyle Korver for the Larry Bird Trophy, awarded to the top men's basketball player. Other honors for Williams include back-to-back selection to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team (2002, 2003), an MVC All-Tournament selection (2002) and a four-time MVC Player-of-the-Week recipient. He was the first repeat winner of the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor (2002, 2003).
"Everybody talks about blood, sweat and tears, and I felt like I did that," Williams said. "If you watched our games, I was bleeding all the time - you can ask Ed Thompson, our trainer. I was diving on the floor. Mitch (Holthus) talked about Floorburn U; that's what we were about. We were going to outplay you. We were going to fight you."
In addition to ranking second on the all-time SIU scoring chart, he is second in career 3-pointers made with 249, sixth in career 3-point percentage at .392, second in career free throws made with 479, eighth in career assists with 352, tops in career games started with 130 and the school's record holder for most career minutes played.
"I've had a lot people ask me what I'm most proud of," Williams said. "The biggest thing was the minutes played. Because of that, I didn't miss one practice. I wasn't late for one practice. I didn't miss one game. I was reliable and coach could count on me. That's what I tried to be. No matter how many points I scored - you're going to have good games and bad games - but to come out and know that you're going to be reliable, coach could count on my effort. If the ball isn't falling that day, you're going to do something else. You're going to dive on the floor; you're going to draw a charge; you're going to get someone else a shot. Bring something else to the game that can impact your team."
The 22nd MVC Hall of Fame class features three basketball student-athletes in Williams, Kristi Cirone (Illinois State); Dolph Pulliam (Drake); a wrestling Olympian in Bill Smith (UNI); a legendary track & field coach in John McNichols (Indiana State); and a longtime contributor to Bradley University athletics in Joe Stowell.
"If anything, I always want people to take this from how I played: I laid it on the table. I played as hard as I could. I'm just a small-town kid from Mount Vernon, Illinois. I'm barely over 6-feet tall. Take away all the stats and things you did; just go out and compete. If you talk about leaving a legacy with how you played, all I wanted people to know was that every time I stepped on the floor, I gave it all I had. I was going to lay it on the floor. I was going to dive on the floor. I was going to make the play. Whatever it took, I was going to play as hard as I could. Hopefully, that encouraged other little kids to see that they could do the same thing. They can grow up in any area. Just learn to play hard, and your dreams can come true."