By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Brenton Williams earned a place among Osceola High’s best basketball players, and now he will follow a college path similar to that of another OHS standout.

Williams recently signed a basketball scholarship to Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, but the odds are that it will be just a one-year stay for the acrobatic 6-0, 175-pound guard.

“He’s a D-1 player; in fact he got a couple of D-1 offers (from Florida A&M and Bethune Cookman),” OHS boys basketball coach Steve Mason said. “But, after talking about it with Brenton and his parents (Fredrick and Katrina Williams), we didn’t feel those were the right opportunities for him, so we’re doing what Mike Frensley did a few years ago by signing with a junior college.  After one season, he should have an opportunity to play at a number of D-1 schools.”

Frensley, the point guard who led OHS to the 1992 regional finals before losing to eventual state champion Oviedo, played one season at Indian River Community College before being recruited to St. Peter’s College in New York, where he helped the Peacocks reach the 1995 NCAA tournament.

Williams averaged 25.7 points last season in leading OHS to a 23-3 record and the 5A-5 district championship. He was the Great Florida ShootOut MVP in December after a sensational four-game stretch that saw him average over 25 points per game.

“I think I’m ready (for college basketball),” Williams said. “I’ll probably play point guard there; I think I can handle it.”

Williams came to OHS after beginning his career at Heartland Prep, now City of Life Academy.

“That was a transition for me, going from a smaller school to this level,” he said.

Williams will play for Coach Chris Mowry, a former UCF assistant coach, at Santa Fe.

“He told me to put on some weight,” Williams said.

Mason said that Williams did not appear on many preseason recruiting lists because he was a late-bloomer.

“It was really his senior season when all the talent he has became obvious to everyone,” Mason said. “We saw it here all along; it was just a matter of Brenton believing he could do it and he showed that, especially at the ShootOut, where he opened a lot of eyes.”

Another problem, Mason said, was that Williams just recently attained his qualifying ACT score.

“I’ve heard from a lot of coaches that they’d love to have him on their team, but they don’t have any scholarships left,” Mason said. “There are guys who got D-1 scholarships that Brenton chewed up in our games. That’s why I tell the guys in our program to take care of things early so they’ll have everything in order and be ready to go.”

Williams, who plans to study sports medicine, said he is looking forward to playing at Santa Fe.

“I probably need to touch up my shot a little, but I’m ready to go,” he said.

Mason said there isn’t much work to do.

“He’s 40 percent on his 3-point shots; how much better can he get?” Mason said.