VIDEO: Sawyer Williams Sunday Conversation from September
INDIANAPOLIS – Carson-Newman senior forward Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) has been nominated for the Allstate NABC Good Works team. It marks back-to-back nominations for Williams for the team, which is in its fifth year of existence.
The Good Works Teams® recognize players at all levels of college basketball who have made outstanding contributions in the areas of volunteerism and civic involvement. From establishing nonprofits that provide youth with the necessary tools to become leaders of tomorrow, to raising awareness around pertinent issues that could save lives, these student-athletes exhibit impeccable leadership skills both on and off the court.
Williams, who's averaging 17.7 points and 7.5 rebounds this season, spends his offseason managing a goat farm.
The All-SAC forward and the Eagles' 23rd 1,000-point scorer has also garnered his fair share of ribbons and medals as a goat farmer in his home state of Kentucky.
"I've always lived on a farm," Williams said. "I started with sheep and then moved on to a few goats. I really liked it, then I started showing them. It's grown from a few goats to around 40. I enjoy raising them, I enjoy taking a mother and father goat and taking a goat they produce and competing against other farmers."
Williams is working toward becoming a vet and animals have always interested him. It's something he works to pass on to the children around the greater Owenton, Ky. area through 4H.
"I really like to watch kids progress from a small interest in livestock to transforming that into a full on interest in goats," Williams said. "I make sure a lot of kids have 4H animals to take to shows, giving them the stuff that they need to know to further their interest in it. My favorites are the ones who get so interested in it that they start researching them and telling you stuff about it."
Williams has won regional and national awards for his goat-farming abilities.
Athletic departments and sports information directors across the country nominated the 181 NABC student-athletes for the prestigious honor. Two special voting panels, headlined by former Duke University basketball athlete, two-time NCAA® champion and seven-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill, and former Notre Dame basketball star, two-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner and current WNBA player Skylar Diggins, will select 10-member teams from both the NABC and WBCA, comprised of five student-athletes from the NCAA Division I level and five student-athletes from Divisions II, III and the NAIA. The final roster of 20 award recipients will be unveiled in February.
Members of the Allstate NABC Good Works Team will be invited by Allstate, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, to the 2017 NABC Convention and 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four in Phoenix, where they will participate in a community service project benefitting the city. Members of the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team will be recognized during the 2017 WBCA Convention and at the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four in Dallas, and will also participate in a volunteer project in the local community. Allstate is an official corporate partner of the NABC, WBCA and NCAA.
"The growth of the Allstate NABC Good Works Team program in five years has been remarkable with a record-setting number again for 2017," NABC Executive Director Jim Haney said. "We are very grateful to Allstate for shining a bright light on these men and women in college basketball whose compassion and commitment continue to help so many."
In addition to Clarkson, Hill and Diggins, the 2017 Allstate NABC and WBCA Good Works Teams selection panel members include: former college basketball student-athletes Clark Kellogg (Ohio State University / CBS Sports), Len Elmore (University of Maryland / CBS Sports / ESPN) and Alana Beard (Duke University); media members Seth Davis (Sports Illustrated / CBS), Dana O'Neil (ESPN), LaChina Robinson (ESPN / FOX) and Brenda VanLengen (ESPN / FOX Sports); former head coaches Bobby Cremins (Georgia Tech / College of Charleston), Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech University), Marsha Sharp (Texas Tech University) and Nell Fortner (Auburn University); and current coach Coquese Washington (Penn State University).