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The Saga of Sly Williams

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Here is the article on Sly Williams that was originally published on Friarbasketball.com last year:

 

Many newer Friar fans wonder what is the big deal about the PC-URI rivalry. Sure it is nice to be playing an instate team for bragging rights but in reality it is just another non-conference game before the teams go their separate ways in the conference season. The Friars and Rams may still go after some of the same recruits but they seem to have less and less in common.

Fans of my generation, however, have a different perspective. The PC-URI rivalry will always be a blood feud. The only thing better than beating URI by 25 points is to beat them by 35. Why does this heated rivalry exist among fans of my generation after so many years? One reason. Sylvester “Sly” Williams.

Every time I hear the name Sly Williams I think back to the beginning of my sophomore year at PC in 1976. The Friars had a solid nucleus returning from the previous year. Players like Joe Hassett, Bob Cooper, Bruce Soup Campbell, Billy Eason, and Bob Misevicius were the foundation of what was going to be a very good Friar basketball team. What was going to make this good team great was an incoming Freshman named Sly Williams.

Williams was a high school All American out of Lee High School in New Haven, Connecticut averaging 31 points and 22 rebounds per game while leading his team to the Connecticut state title. He was Dave Gavitt’s signature recruit and was going be the player who put PC over the top. With Sly Williams the Friars were going to compete for a national championship instead of just competing for an NCAA tournament bid. Williams was also going to be the foundation for the future, the player Gavitt was going to build around after Hassett, Campbell, and the others left.

Everything was all set and then a funny thing happened. Back then PC had always been a little backwards when competing with other big time college programs. Everyone knows the story of how the Friars could not bring in Tim Duncan because they didn’t have any available scholarships at the time even though they knew they were going to have two players transfer at the end of the season. That is nothing compared to what happened with Sly Williams.

Back in the 70’s PC held on to a practice that they would not require their basketball recruits to sign a national letter of intent. The honor system was good enough for them. They had their own internal letter of intent but it was not binding on the player.

Sometime during the summer before he was to start his freshman year at Providence Sly Williams (and people that had gotten close to him) decided that he should go to a school where he would be “the guy” right from the start, and not just one of several really good players. The problem was he never told that to Dave Gavitt. When school started in September he showed up on the URI campus instead of PC.

You can probably figure out the reaction that had around the state. Just imagine if on the first day of class Kris Dunn had decided to go to URI instead of the Friars. Just imagine what Ed Cooley’s reaction would have been.

Needless to say a rivalry that was already intense went to unheard of levels. Beating the Rams became an obsession, a passion among Friar fans. The two PC-URI games each year became wars.

The short term results were that everyone survived. The Friars had very good teams the next couple of years making a couple of NCAA tournament appearances. The PC administration learned its lesson and started having players sign national letter of intents when they committed to the Friars. Sly Williams went on to have an excellent career at URI and was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 1979 NBA draft.

Long term, things did not work out as great. The Friars no longer had their foundation to build around for the future and slipped into mediocrity after Campbell, Eason, and Misevicius graduated in 1978. When Gavitt was forming the Big East Conference in 1979 he never even remotely considered URI for membership. Both programs wound up suffering long term as a result of the Sly Williams saga.

Today the PC-URI rivalry may not be once it once was, but don’t tell anyone from my generation that it is just another game.

 

email Craig at Craig.Leighton@friarbasketball.com

follow Craig on twitter: @CraigL78

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3 Comments

  1. Domenic Coletta

    December 10, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    Craig, your story has some truths but I know the real story. We should talk some day.

  2. Craig Leighton

    December 10, 2014 at 7:16 pm

    Yes, we should. I know there is a lot more out there about it than what I am aware of.

  3. Derec Lamendola

    December 10, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LET’S NOT START TIL 7:00 Becuase IM Going ERLER Leting TO Me I Won’t Providence Colllege Friars Win Thery Wing Streek Wake UP

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