Cincinatti forward drawing interest of many

SOUTHPORT, Ind. — The most impressive player at the J.C./Prep All-America Challenge last weekend may very well have been forward John Williamson of Cincinnati State.

"They send me a letter almost every week," Williamson said of Purdue, following a dominant 20-plus-point showing Friday afternoon at the Challenge in Southport. "They're telling me about their school and showing me little highlights out of the newspaper and things like that."

Williamson said Friday that he doesn't have any scholarship offers yet, but it has been suggested that Detroit and Bowling Green have in fact offered, with Xavier perhaps next in line. Purdue, Oklahoma and Iowa remain in regular contact.

"People are just telling me they're interested and they'll keep following up with me," Williamson said.

The Columbus, Ohio, native is a 6-foot-7 (which might be a slightly generous listing), 217-pound combo forward who prides himself on being capable of doing a little bit of everything.

"I think I could play any position," he said. "I think I can play with any big man, because I can post up or face up. I'm pretty versatile; I can play the four, the three, I can run the floor, play the wing or play the post."

Williamson showed all those things Friday, shooting from three-point range, running the floor and finishing strong, posting up and penetrating into the lane for buckets. Though not as tall as many post players, he also more than held his own on the boards.

As a freshman this past season at Cincinnati State, Williamson averaged 17.4 points and 10 rebounds per game, which were good enough for him to earn first-team all-league and Newcomer-of-the-Year honors in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference.

As a senior at Marion-Franklin High School in Columbus, he averaged 18 points, 13 boards, 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals. He was recruited by some smaller schools — he said his high school often takes a back seat to larger Metropolitan Columbus programs in terms of exposure — but his ACT score checked in a shade too low, and he was junior college-bound.

Now sporting a 2.8 cumulative GPA, Williamson is eager to build on his strong debut season a year ago.

"I tried to get after it as a freshman," Williamson said. "It was my first time playing college basketball, so I just played hard and let the game come to me. I just like playing hard and having fun."

Cincinnati State also has 7-foot Illinois-Chicago bounce-back Demario Williams, who will be closely watched by many, many colleges this summer and into his sophomore year. He attended Fender High School in the Windy City.