North Carolina State University Athletics
From Parking Lot to Playing Field
12/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 24, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. – Even though he rarely made it inside the gates to watch a game, NC State wide receiver Jarvis Williams has fond memories of the Florida Citrus Bowl.
Williams, an Orlando native, was a two-sport standout at Jones High School, which is just across the street from the 74-year old concrete stadium. For years, he and his basketball teammates parked cars on the school grounds for all the stadium’s big events.
At $20 a pop, they raised enough money to travel all over the country to play in holiday basketball tournaments. For Williams, an all-state basketball player and most valuable player of the state 3A basketball tournament as a senior, it was a volunteer job with a great purpose.
“We got to go on some great trips with the money we raised,” Williams said.
Now, however, as he and his NC State football teammates prepare to play No. 22 West Virginia in next Tuesday’s Champs Sports Bowl, Williams has a few different purposes in mind. He wants to help the Wolfpack (8-4) win its ninth game of the season, something that has happened only nine in the first 117 years of football at NC State and only once in the last 15 years.
He’d like to make one final impression on the NFL scouts, so he can fulfill his dream of one day playing professional football.
And he would like one final great performance in front of friends and family, who will take up a big chunk of space in the NC State section during Tuesday’s game. His grandmother, mother, sister and 4-year-old son Jarvis Jr. will all be in the stands to see him close out his college career. He thinks he can improve on the two catches for 15 yards he had earlier this season, when the Wolfpack beat Central Florida in Orlando.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to play my last college game in my hometown, in front of a big supporting crowd,” Williams said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere for me and my teammates.”
Williams has distinct memories of NC State’s last visit to the stadium, on Dec. 22, 2003, for the Mazda Tangerine Bowl. In the final career game for record-setting quarterback Philip Rivers and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, the Pack blitzed Kansas 56-26 in the most productive postseason game in school history.
It wasn’t long afterwards that Williams decided to play for the Wolfpack, then coached by Chuck Amato. He played in one game as a true freshman in 2006, before suffering an injury that forced him into a medical redshirt. He came back as a reserve in 2007, Tom O'Brien's first season as NC State's coach.
For the last three seasons, Williams has been one of the steadiest and most productive receivers in the ACC.
He’s started 37 consecutive games, the most of any other player on the team. He currently ranks sixth in school history with 127 career receptions and third with 19 touchdown receptions. He’s also gotten better every year. His 46 catches and 636 receiving yards this season are both career highs.
For Williams, one of three co-captains this season with quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Nate Irving, those career accomplishments are satisfying, but not nearly as much as what happened last Saturday at the RBC Center.
That’s when Williams completed his trek from Jones High parking lot attendant to college graduate, receiving his degree in parks, recreation and tourism program management, as his mother and grandmother cheered him on.
“My high school kind of had a bad background,” Williams said. “It’s known for producing a bunch of athletes and drop-outs. So to come out of there and earn a college degree, that’s a real big deal.
“People look up to that.”
• Tim Peeler, tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
