Cedrick Williams stands 6-feet-9-inches tall, sports a size-17 shoe, majors in computer science and is a former gospel singer of three years. Oh yeah, he is also a freshman forward on the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball team.

Born in Nashville, Tenn., Williams moved to Murfreesboro, Tenn. where he spent the majority of his childhood. Like most athletic kids, Williams participated in many different sports besides basketball, including baseball and football.

He started out on the baseball field where he played first base and went undefeated two consecutive seasons. He then transferred to football, but ended up leaving the sport due to injuries. “I was getting too many broken bones,” he said. “I was too small.”

It wasn’t until he was 12 years old that he began to play basketball. “I hit a growth spurt over the summer, and I grew about three inches,” he said. “I decided it was time to try basketball.”

Basketball wasn’t anything new to Williams’ family. Height is popular within his relatives and he even has some that played overseas. This natural talent contributed to his career in high school when he played all four years on the varsity squad at Siegal High School and earned second-team all-state honors as an incoming freshman.

It was then that Williams new he wanted to make a career out of basketball. “I saw that I could do really big things with it, and that it could pay for my education,” he said. “If it could pay for my education and I work really hard at it, then I could make something good come out of it.”

When it came time to start thinking about colleges, Williams decided to pass on in-state schools and come to UNCW. Like many of the incoming freshmen on the Seahawk basketball team, Williams came here to change the program and to be a part of “something big.”

“They told me I could do a lot and have a big impact here,” he says about his recruitment. “I wanted to help bring back the tradition of winning here at UNCW.”

In the next two years, Williams hopes to see an NCAA Tournament bid. “We are going through a learning experience right now with our age,” Williams said. “We’re just taking our bumps and bruises right now and coming together as a team, both on and off the court.”

He is most proud of his relationship with his teammates outside of Trask Coliseum. “We love hanging out with each other,” he said. “Most likely if you see one of us, you’ll see four or five us, as well.” When the television in his living room is working, Williams likes to sit down and watch the Los Angeles Lakers and play video games with his roommates.

Williams’ first career choice is to play in the NBA, but he does have a backup plan. “If basketball doesn’t work out, I would probably go into personal training or incorporating my degree somehow,” he said. “But basketball is my future.”

In between sports, Williams developed a passion for computers at a young age. In the seventh grade, he realized he wanted to work with them when he got older. “I just like messing with them and figuring out how things happen,” he said. I knew I wanted to work hands on with computers.”

At the end of the day, basketball is a learning experience for Williams. “It has taught me teamwork and to work hard. If you work hard for something, you will get it,” he said. “You have to do things that nobody else is willing to do.”

Williams looks up to NBA star Kevin Durhant as a player and a person for this reason. “He wasn’t blessed with size for an NBA player,” he explained. “But his work ethic made up for it.”

Basketball has also served as a safe place for Williams. When he was growing up, his parents were going through divorces and basketball was there to help. “I used basketball as my outlet,” he said. “It helped me cope during those tough times.”

Despite all of that, his parents remained supportive. “They still made it to my games to watch me play.”

Williams admits he gets nervous before any game, no matter how big or small. “You always have that butterfly feeling right before,” he said. “But once you step on that court, everything goes away and you just play your game and give it your all. And in the end, that’s all that matters.”