It was back in May when Michigan State offered a scholarship to 3-star defensive back Davion Williams, from Belleville High School, to play football in 2018. He announced his hard commit to the Spartans a month later.
Word on the street is that Williams is going to entertain being a two-sport athlete at MSU when he arrives, and play basketball on top of football.
Future Spartan cornerback Davion Williams will take shot at hoops, too. Story from @DavidGoricki https://t.co/hNZ8FGFLvT pic.twitter.com/ZOF0nZ74SG
— Daren Tomhave (@DarenTomhave) June 30, 2017
Williams (6-2, 185 pounds) will be entering his senior year in high school, and just his second season of playing football after a two-year hiatus from the game to pursue basketball. He turned himself into a top-10 hoops player in the state of Michigan. Williams is listed as a 3-star prospect in both football and basketball.
Williams attended a basketball camp during a weekend last month, in which both Spartans basketball coach Tom Izzo and football coach Mark Dantonio were in attendance. After playing in some hoops contests, he participated in a football camp and drills before formally committing to the football program.
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Williams said that Izzo told him he has a spot on the men’s basketball program, should he want to consider it:
“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Williams told The Detroit News in a phone interview Friday afternoon. “He (Izzo) said I’d have a spot on the team, offering me the chance to play basketball, which is definitely a love of mine.”
Williams got some encouragement from both his father, a former football player at Eastern Michigan, and his current basketball coach, Adam Trumpour, who said that he could tell he missed playing football and needed to fully utilize his athleticism and skill set:
“His dad (Denorris Williams) is a former Eastern Michigan football player and I really pushed him to play,” Trumpour said. “He’s such a good competitor and such a tremendous athlete. He runs under a 4.5 and has a 38- or 39-inch vertical. He’s long (6-2) and rangy and competes, and he’s only going to get better with his technique.”
Should it work out for Williams on the hardwood, he’d get to play with his teammate and classmate, and fellow Spartan commit, Gabe Brown. The 4-star small forward for the Belleville Tigers verbally committed to Michigan State back in June, just days after Williams pledged to the Spartans.
Michigan State has had some high-profile names in their history to play multiple sports during their time at MSU. Among the more notable ones are Kirk Gibson, Andre Rison and the late Brad Van Pelt.
Fans of MSU may remember a multi-sport player in more recent history. Flint-native Matt Trannon (2003-07) played four years of football for the Spartans and two seasons with the basketball team. He later signed as a undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL, but never played in a regular season game.
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