True learning for Williams at Kirkwood

CEDAR RAPIDS - Roughly 10 minutes remained in Kirkwood Community College's men's basketball practice Monday night at Johnson Hall. Point guard Kaylon Williams attempted to throw a bounce pass from near the top of the key, only to have the teammate defending him kick the ball right back into his hand.

"Ahhh!" Williams yelled in pain, as he cradled the hand.

If ever a moment summed up the former Cedar Rapids Kennedy standout's return back home so far, this was it. It was complete with a post-practice ice bag for an injured right middle finger.

"Learning experience," Williams said, when asked about his time at Kirkwood. "A lot of learning steps. You go back to a juco, you'd think it'd be a lot easier. But it's still the same. Everybody's working to get to that next level. Everybody's working hard, the coaches doing their jobs, trying to win that championship and what not."

It was about a year ago when you saw Kaylon Williams in the Dean Dome on ESPN, playing for the University of Evansville against eventual national champion North Carolina. He went on to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in assists and was named to the league's all-freshman team.

His future with the Purple Aces seemed very bright. But following the season, Williams abruptly announced he was leaving Evansville and coming back home, planning to play his sophomore season for Kirkwood before moving on to another Division I program.

"I think I kind of made my decision a little too quick the first time," he said. "I was tired of (the recruiting process). I only took two visits, had three more set up. I was thankful for what Evansville had done, sticking through everything. But it is what it is. I'm here now, and I need to take advantage of it."

Truthfully, he hadn't been taking advantage of it. Kirkwood Coach Doug Wagemester suspended the 6-foot-4 guard before the season began in November, not allowing him to practice because of a "violation of team rules."

Williams missed the Eagles' first three games, then had to work his way into a starting spot.

"Just team discipline. Disciplinary reasons. Team rules," Williams said. "I'm not above anybody or the game. I've definitely learned a lot in these last three months, four months."

"He wasn't meeting the expectations we set for our guys," Wagemester said. "It was a little bit in a lot of areas. It'd almost have been easier if it had been one large incident or something. You know, bang, this happened, it's cut and dried. But it wasn't like that. Any of the things independent to themselves, it would have been nothing. But over time, it was like 'Wait a minute.'"

Without being specific, Wagemester said Williams' issues were on and off the court. There were several meetings between the coach, player and his family to see if things could be ironed out.

"I honestly didn't know if we'd have him back," Wagemester said. "I didn't know which way it was going to go. In fact, if I was a betting man, I would have said this doesn't look good. But to his credit, he pulled himself up by the bootstraps. He did what he needed to do to make it right."

You don't have to watch much practice to figure out Williams is the leader of this Kirkwood team. He seems to be constantly talking to and encouraging his teammates.

He's averaging 9 points and 6 assists, numbers he wants to improve. But he says it's all about the team right now, helping it toward its goal of an NJCAA Division II national championship.

Then it'll be time to focus on finding another place to go to school and play. Williams visited Southern Mississippi and Coach Larry Eustachy when he was in high school and had other planned official visits to Central Florida, Purdue and Missouri State cancelled after his commitment to Evansville.

He said recruiting the second time around isn't any easier, and it's actually a little slow right now. He was asked if there were any regrets for leaving Evansville and returning home. 

"When I was going through the process of sitting out the games and what not, you always think about that type of stuff," Williams said. "But when it all comes down to it, the decision was made. You've got to move forward. The next thing for me to do is win a national championship here. Then it's right back to the recruiting process."