But when C-J coach Frank Goldsberry called her Monday and said a reporter wanted to talk her about being named Parade magazine's player of the year, Williams could hardly believe it.
"In the back of my mind, I thought, `Yeah, right,'' a giddy Williams said. "(Goldsberry) said to call this lady and I thought it was going to be one of his wife's friends.''
But she soon learned it was no joke: Williams, bound for Connecticut on a basketball scholarship next season, is Parade ' s 1998 girls high school basketball player of the year. She and the rest of the magazine's All-American team will be featured in Sunday's Parade . Past recipients of the player of the year award include WNBA stars Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Rebecca Lobo and NBA stars Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan.
It is the third national award Williams has won in the past week.
On Friday, she was named the WBCA/Nike National Player of the Year and Saturday she received the Naismith National Player of the Year award at a dinner in Atlanta. Goldsberry said Williams will receive yet another national award on Wednesday in Dayton, although he would not reveal which one.
Is all of this getting passe for Williams, the most decorated high school athlete to come out of Dayton? "Every (award) is big,'' Williams said. "Hey, I'll take them all if they come.''
Still, the C-J senior who has an A grade-point average remains modest and appears genuinely surprised about each award she wins. After receiving the Naismith and Nike award this past weekend, she said, "I was like, `This week can't get any better.' I didn't even care if I got anything else.''
But she'll gladly accept the Parade honor - especially since Sunday, the day she'll be recognized in the magazine, is her 18th birthday.
"It's my birthday, so (the winner) had to be me,'' she said.
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* CONTACT Susan Vinella at 225-7389 or e-mail susan_vinella@coxohio.com