By: Ryan Chichester

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Tyrese Williams sat in his living room on Sunday afternoon, pondering the next move of his basketball career. His tenure at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx had landed him scholarship offers at schools like Stony Brook, St. Louis and Manhattan. Williams had arrived home from a visit to the Manhattan campus the day before, and realized he wanted a fresh scene.

“I felt like I was still in the city,” Williams said of his Manhattan visit, just six miles from Cardinal Hayes. “It didn’t give me the college feel.”

After sitting down with his sister on Sunday, Williams announced his commitment to Baker Dunleavy and the Quinnipiac Bobcats via Twitter. After expressing a desire to get out of the Bronx, Williams will be replacing his current skyscraper surroundings for the mountains of Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden.

“I had a feeling that Quinnipiac was for me, so I went ahead and just committed.” Williams said of the decision.

Williams believes his move to Quinnipiac will help him in more areas than the hardwood.

“It’s going to help me grow even more,” Williams says. “Being away at college is going to be a whole different feel, and is going to help me grow into a better man.”

It was a sentiment Williams shared with his head coach Joseph Lods at Cardinal Hayes, who has some Quinnipiac ties of his own.

Quinnipiac graduate James Feldeine was also a product of Cardinal Hayes high school during Lods’ early years with the school. Feldeine would go on to earn All-NEC Team honors and the conference’s Most Improved Player Award during his Bobcat tenure that ended in 2010.

“I told (Tyrese) we sent James up to Quinnipiac and he did really well,” Lods remembers. “Quinnipiac seemed like the best location for him.”

Lods also worked with current Quinnipiac Associate Head Coach Tom Pecora at Hofstra University, where Pecora was the head coach for nine seasons. Lods’ experience with the Bobcats, both past and present, was enough to encourage Williams to head north for his college career.

While Williams’ current coach played a part in his commitment to Quinnipiac, his future coach also had a strong influence.

“Coach Dunleavy factored in a lot,” Williams said. “I like that he’s a new coach and he has a plan. He has a blueprint for what he wants to do as a new program. Coming from Villanova, where they just won a National Championship, he has that mentality.”

Like Dunleavy, Williams has his own championship attitude. After leading Cardinal Hayes to the freshman championship game in his first year at the school, Williams took a step back when he broke his fibula and missed most of his sophomore season. Looking back, Williams doesn’t see the injury as a set back at all.

“It just showed how much I’ve grown and how I’ve got better,” Williams said of his recovery and return to the court as a junior. “You’re stronger than you think. When you’re hard-working, anything is possible.”

With Williams once again leading the backcourt as a junior, Cardinal Hayes won their first championship in 27 years, while Williams lead the team in points, assists and rebounds as a guard.

“He’s just a winning player,” Lods said. “All he does is win games.”

It’s more than a mentality. Lods has seen the evolution of Williams for three years, and can see the intangibles on the court.

“He’s a big guard who can really shoot,” Lods said. “When he gets going, he can score from everywhere. He’s automatic.”

Williams echoes his coach and believes his ability to score is his greatest strength.

“I’d say my jumpshot,” Williams answered when asked about his best quality on the court. “I’m just a bucket.”

Williams’ ability to score has not only improved during his time at Cardinal Hayes, but has also expanded.

“He’s become more than a stand-still shooter,” Lods explained. “Now he’s making his shots off the dribble and is really becoming a combo guard.”

Dunleavy will be unable to comment on the commitment of Williams until the signing becomes official next month, but he will likely be looking for Williams to pick up the scoring that transfer Mikey Dixon left behind.

Dixon, the conference Rookie of the Year, led the Bobcats with 16.5 points per game before leaving for St. John’s. While Dixon heads to the big city to play for the Red Storm, Williams prepares his journey away from the city to pick up what Dixon left behind in Hamden.

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