Former M'brook student a star in US

Former Meadowbrook High student, Darrell Williams, has signed up to play for the University of South Florida next year in the United States College Football League.

According to a report on the website of the Orlando Sentinel (www.orlandosentinel.com), Williams, who plays offensive tackle in American football, stands at 6' 5" and weighs 245 lb, was ranked 17th by the Sentinel's 2011 Central Florida Super60 top high school players in America.

Williams, who currently attends Orlando Evans High School in Florida, was also recruited heavily by college football's powerhouses, South Carolina, Florida State and NC State.

"I don't have to worry about it anymore," Williams said of the recruiting process. "Now I just have to keep my grades up and finish the year strong and get in the weight room and then start my college career."

Williams, who had his sights set on being an outstanding basketballer when he first set foot in the United States, also gave a lot of credit to head coach Carl Holden and former head coach Greg Thomas for his exposure.

"It's been a long process," he said. "I just did what I had to do along with my coaches pushing for me, so that's how I got all my exposure. My former coach, coach Thompson, pushed for me a lot and called a lot of people, and then coach Holden kept contact with a lot of schools. They did a lot for me."

Hard road

However, he admits that the road to success has been very difficult because he had no knowledge of the game prior to migrating to the United States at the age of 13.

"I came here my ninth grade year. I thought I was going to be the next great basketball player," said Williams. "But when I got here, I saw that all the basketball players were like 6' 8" or 6' 9" and so I knew I had to do something else to go to college," he said.

Williams added: "It took a lot of work to get where I am today, a lot of work. Among all the seniors playing on the team this year, I was the worst when I got here, I didn't know anything," Williams reasoned.