Alvin Williams Joins Elite Group Into Montco Sports Hall Of Fame
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — One time, at a school function, Alvin Williams' eight-year-old daughter wondered why the parents of her classmates kept stopping to speak with her dad as if they knew him. That prompted her to turn and ask him, "Daddy, are you famous?"
Williams smiled and nodded 'no.'
His daughter knows him as 'dad.' Everyone else who knows basketball in Philadelphia knows Alvin Williams as the gifted guard who starred at Germantown Academy, then Villanova, and played eight years in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors.
On Friday night at the Radisson, Valley Forge Hotel & Casino at 6 p.m., the smooth-as-silk guard will be inducted into the Montco Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame with a distinguished group that also features former Temple football star John Rienstra, Glenn Fine, Craig Littlepage, Gerry Hunsicker, Amanda O'Leary, Tammy Greene, Shelly Chamberlain, Clarence "Scotty" Scott, Jim Gibbons, Randy Garber, and Jim Church.
This will be Williams' third hall of fame induction, along with Villanova's Hall of Fame and another state hall of fame.
"This is a great honor," said Williams, now 40. "It's funny my daughter has no clue about my playing days. As she gets a little older I'll tell her I actually played. I'll take her Friday night and she's aware and she knows what's going on.
"It's always great being honored and you think people forget, and things like this give you a chance to relive those memories and storytelling."
Williams, who today is involved with a local organization called The Academy of Hoops with other former local standouts that helps younger players develop skills, will make sure to thank the many coaches, teachers, friends and family that have helped his distinguished career.
There will be three tables full of supporters for Williams, from his Germantown Academy days, representing Villanova, and his family.
"It's going to be a great night of people showing me support, which they have throughout my life," said Williams, who graduated from Villanova with a BA and resides in the Villanova area. "It is going to be an emotional night. It's always emotional, more so because you're so connected to everyone in your life. Everyone that's helped me reach this point in my life is being honored, too. That's the way I see it.
"My support is like an extension of your family, because without them, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did. I went from a minority kid to Germantown Academy, a new environment for me that made me grow, to Villanova afforded me a great education and made me a man, to my mother, father and my sisters, who have always been there for me. I want to share with them. This is about them, too."
For reservations for tickets, tables and ads please visit
http://www.montcosportshof.org/2014inductionbanquet.html. Or contact Dave Ritting at 610-256-0300.
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