Early in this young season Blake Williams of the Blake School has started very strong. After a summer of hard work, Williams has put up some nice numbers early in the season and colleges have taken notice. Blake has picked up some division one interest and his 40 point performance vs. St. Bernard's has been well publicized.
Several Minnesota kids have already committed and signed with schools but you always have a few that really blossom their senior year and then get noticed. A great example would be Matt Janning who was good but nobody expected him to do what he did last season which ultimately brought him a scholarship to Northeastern, a division one school in Boston.
Williams looks to be similar to Janning based on the way his season has started. "Blake is a late bloomer and we're just trying to find the right fit for him," said Nick Rathmann "Dartmouth is most likely the leader at this point. He was MVP at their camp this summer, and their coaches describe him as their number one target. He would have a great opportunity to play right away as a freshman there. They are flying out to our first holiday tournament game vs. Pequot Lakes. We've had communications from Northwestern, but they only have one scholarship left and want a big man, but are still interested. Every division two and three in Minnesota is interested. Winona State, Northern State, Bemidji and all the MIAC schools are after him, Carleton and Macalester in particular. Really though, it's a huge list with no real determined ranking at this point."
That is the situation right now but if Williams keeps improving and working hard, more schools could become interested and some already have been feeling around. "Nearly daily now I'm getting more and more interest on Blake Williams," said Rathmann. "In the last two days Oregon State and Utah State have called. The word is getting out that if teams are looking for a scorer at the win, Blake Williams would be a good fit. He hasn't even reached his full potential yet and that's the best part. It seems like he's thriving under this pressure right now, and turning out very impressive ball games. All we are going to see the rest of the year is junk zone and box and 1s."
Williams himself is really focused on the season but that college interest is always in the back of the mind. "I have not made a decision for next year but I have been in contact with many coaches on all levels," said Williams. "After making some official visits during the break in the season I am sure I will be able to narrow down my choices and ultimately make a decision."
The Blake Bears started the year 3-0 but have hit a wall losing their last three to St. Bernard's, Edison and St. Agnes. "Thus far the season is off to a fair start as we won our first three games and lost the next three," Blake said. "Some of the highlights included our two point win over Southwest battling back from an eight point deficit late in the second half. Also we played a tough game against one of the best teams in the state, St Bernard's. We fought hard and kept the game competitive." In the end the Blake School lost 85-70 to the top ranked Bulldogs but Williams had 40 points.
Williams scored the 40 points often facing a pair of defenders. On one play Blake dribbled around a double team on the wing, went through the lane while passing another defender and then Blake went opposite rim with a perfectly placed lay-in over the top of a leaping Trevor Mbakwe. Blake's pull-up jumper in traffic is gorgeous because he gets up so high with squared shoulders and his release looks unreal right now. His coaches at Blake said that this summer, Williams put a surreal amount of work into his shot and it is paying off.
As important as a college scholarship is Williams really is playing for his team and victories is the most important thing. "My goal for the team is to finish the season with more wins then last year (we had 17) and continue to improve," explained Williams. "I also have a goal to finish in the top third of the conference, something we have not done in the past three years I have been playing high school basketball. The toughest challenge for the team the rest of the way will probably be the completive holiday tournament we are participating in. This is a tournament in St Cloud that will feature some of the top teams in the state and this coupled with the fact that we will be playing back to back two nights in a row will serve as a true test for our team. I am confident however that we will step up to the plate and have an excellence tournament."
Already this year Williams has brought some thrills to Blake basketball and it has the entire program excited. "In our opener, we led and Blake willed us to victory by totaling 38 pts (15 of 25 shooting and 25 pts in the first half)," Rathmann explained. "TJ Oakes for Jordan, who is going to be outstanding and is only a sophomore, had 26. These two (Williams and Oakes) went back and forth, but Blake was just on fire. On Saturday, Blake had 21 pts in a twp point victory over Southwest. He only played eight minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but played a key factor in the win as we were down six with a minute and a half left to go and he scored six of our last eight team points."
But more then being a great player and student, Rathmann also loves have Williams because he is a great person. "Blake is a wonderful young adult who has come a long ways both on and off the court," the coach explained. "He still has a lot of room for improvement, but his recent success (late summer and early this year) has drawn interest from colleges at all levels of play."
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