Williams is PSA’s 10th D1 Pledge
Putnam Science Academy post-graduate Johnnie Williams IV announced that he has accepted a scholarship offer to play basketball at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, A D1 school in the Sun Belt Conference, earlier this week.
Williams, a 6-foot-5 shooting wing from Florida said he chose ULM because “their style fits great with my game. I’m looking forward to the competition. I feel excited and very blessed to have the opportunity to play high-level basketball.”
Williams so his role grow significant over the course of his post-grad season. He was virtually a practice player for three-quarters of the season before finally cracking the rotation and eventually the starting lineup. He was the Mustangs’ second-leading scorer over the final 11 games of the regular season, averaging 9.9 points per game. That included a four-game stretch when he scored 19, 14, 17, and 16 points. He averaged 10 points the national tournament, helping PSA to a piece of its second championship in three years.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again…I’ve never coached a kid like Johnnie Williams before,” PSA coach Tom Espinosa said. “Every other kid would have shut it down if they were in his position. But to his credit, Johnnie kept coming to practice and worked his tail off, and when we called on him, he was ready. He was huge for us. I’ve never had a kid not have a role on the team for 25, 30 games, whatever it was, and then all of a sudden do what he did for us. It’s a testament to the type of person Johnnie Williams is. I think Louisiana-Monroe is going to love this kid from the minute he walks on campus.”
Williams admits that it wasn’t easy for him but he never doubted a scholarship to a Division I school was out of reach.
“Since the beginning I had enough faith in myself and carried a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I never lost faith in myself and never stopped praying to God.”
Williams becomes the 10th member of PSA’s 2020 class to accept a full athletic scholarship at the D1 level.
Johnnie Williams