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Kwon Williams solid with the Knights (interview)

Brandon

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May 28, 2001
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Kwon Williams remains all aboard the Knight train.

The Oakwood (Ga.) West Hall athlete originally committed to UCF during a visit for the Houston game on Oct. 24, which was the day before George O'Leary stepped down as head coach.

"I just felt really welcome at UCF," Williams said reflecting back on that day. "Even though most of the coaches aren't there now, I felt welcome. Everybody was real friendly. My aunt lives right down the street from there up in Jacksonville."

Another aspect Williams really liked was UCF's recruitment of Georgia the past few years.

"I know they've got two players from Buford (Dontravious Wilson and Tre Neal) who I've played against," Williams said. "They had another kid, Thomas Niles, who went to a high school like five minutes down the street. Florida is just a beautiful state. I love it down there."

He's waited patiently over the last month or so to see what would happen during the coaching search, communicating primarily with Andrew Thacker and Sean Beckton.

Last week, UCF announced the hire of Scott Frost, Oregon's offensive coordinator. During his introductory press conference, Frost made it known all the prior commits still had a home at UCF. That message was relayed to him over the weekend.

"I talked to Coach Frost for the first time on Saturday morning," Williams said. "It was just basically him saying that he's glad I stayed loyal to UCF. As soon as (Frost) got there that's made me want to be there even more. He told me when I come down there that I'll have a chance to get on the field and make an immediate impact."

On Monday, new assistant coach Troy Walters flew to Georgia to visit with Williams as well as fellow commit Malick Mbodj.

"It went great," Williams said. "The day before he told me he would be coming up to the school. He DM'd me to let me know like an hour before he got there. I got called out of class and went to the head coach's office. Great guy. I talked to him for about 10 minutes. I felt welcome at UCF already. It was basically the same message as before. They want me to stay with them and are happy I've stayed loyal. They talked a little bit about the offense they're going to run."

As for the status of his commitment, Williams told Frost and Walters they needn't worry.

"I'm still loyal to UCF," he said. "I'm 110 percent sure. That's where I want to play."

Williams finished his senior season with 85 carries for 547 yards, seven rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns, 51 tackles and three interceptions.

"I had an amazing year my junior year," Williams said. "I was the player of the year. We also had a lot of seniors that year. We lost about 10 of our starters and only two or three returning starters on offense. The entire offensive line graduated. We were decent. I wish we could have done better. We lost in the third round to Calhoun. They've won their region 15 years straight and we had the lead at halftime. I actually played quarterback in that game."

As for his future position, Williams isn't quite sure what Frost and staff have planned. They may not be sure yet either.

"Coach Beckton, every time I'd talk to him, he'd ask me what my favorite position was," Williams said. "I'd tell him every time wherever they need me the most. I'm fine with playing running back and I'm fine with safety."

His official visit will take place the weekend of Jan. 15. Wake Forest continues to recruit him. At the time of his commitment, he had also been strongly considering Syracuse and Cincinnati. NC State and Vanderbilt had offered earlier in the process.

"When it came down to it nothing compared to UCF," Williams said. "I just fell in love with it."

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