Darien Williams: Signing day 1 on 1

As a high-school senior in California two years ago, Darien Williams started following Iowa State's basketball program and even took the Cyclones as his dynasty franchise on a video game. When it came time to choose a junior college program to boost his recruiting stock, he picked Iowa Western hoping to get some looks from I-State.

Those dreams came true on Wednesday for the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward, who signed with the Cyclones and will become a part of head coach Fred Hoiberg's program in the 2015-16 season.

"I've pretty much always known that I'd like to play at Iowa State," said Williams, who also had offers from Fresno State, Kansas State and Nebraska. "Even when I decided to play at Iowa Western last year, I thought that it would be pretty cool if Iowa State would start recruiting me. I was already looking forward to it and jumped out of my chair when Coach Matt (Abdelmassih) first texted me.

"While I wanted to see how the recruiting process played out, I pretty much always knew I would go to Iowa State. Before I even got to school last year, I was using Iowa State on the video game and doing a dynasty mode. So I always knew it was going to happen, so it's nice to finally sign and get everything done."

Williams played as a freshman at Iowa Western last season, but is sitting out the 2014-15 campaign after surgery to repair both shoulders due to frequent dislocations. He's taking classes closer to home this year at City College of San Francisco, and will enroll at ISU with three seasons of eligibility.

The versatile big man averaged 16.1 points and 6.7 rebounds with the Reivers last winter, shooting over 50 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from the 3-point arc.

Williams said he is looking forward to playing multiple positions as a member of the Cyclones.

"The coaches have showed me the highlights of Royce White and Georges (Niang) from last year," Williams said. "I'll have a certain amount of freedom in the system. They haven't said I would play a particular position. I can shoot the ball, am athletic and can run the floor. I feel I play good defense. I need to improve all parts of my game."

It was during an ISU-Kansas game during 2012-13 that Williams said his Cyclone fandom began.

"I started watching them when Royce (White) played and the first game I really watched them play was the Kansas game in 2012-2013 with the charge call that they didn't call," he said. "I really enjoyed the style of play and the way the announcers were talking about it. It wasn't just the coaching staff, but also the city of Ames."

Growing up on the west coast, Williams said it was his intent to find a program with a solid fan base and true campus feel.

"I'm real extensive in my research I do," he said. "Coming from here, our fans aren't the greatest so I wanted to go to some place with a true college town. I even looked up the women's basketball attendance and it was second in the nation, I looked up the football team that might not be winning a lot but is still selling out every game and getting 55,000, and I looked up the volleyball team is top-20 in attendance. The true college town really attracted me."

Of course, the presence of Hoiberg didn't hurt matters for Williams who said he will enjoy playing for a coach with an easy-going personality.

"I like the style of play and the coaching staff is real energetic," Williams said. "I like the way Coach Hoiberg coaches. A lot of coaches might disrespect you and yell at you for no reason. Coach Hoiberg is like 'OK you made a mistake' but he just talks to you about it. He has a calm demeanor and the atmosphere around the program is so great. So I want to help this program take that Final Four, National Championship step."

Williams received little interest from big-time programs as a prep at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. He said it was mostly due to a lack of effort, both on the court and off. But that all changed with a move to the Midwest.

"I didn't take the game as serious in high school," he said. "A lot of people told me I could be really good, but I just sat around and played video games. I didn't really work on my game. I had smaller D-I schools looking at me and ended up at a junior college because my grades weren't very good.

"After high school, I needed to change if this was really wanted to do. I worked harder. When I got to Iowa Western, it was the first time in my life that I've actually got to play free to a certain extent. If you're tall in high school, they'd just put you in the post and it never felt right. Last year, I got to play on the perimeter and in the post. I got to play in a free system."