From pro baseball to walk-on to scholarship player

Published 6:30 am Thursday, December 24, 2020

LAFAYETTE — Jalen Williams’ priorities had changed.

From pursuing a career as a professional baseball player right out of high school or to walking on for the LSU football team, Williams had made the choice of wanting to be part of something big. There are very few things bigger than reaching the big leagues or for playing under the bright lights of Tiger Stadium.

But then in the spring of 2017, Williams chose a different answer to the question his father posed to him years earlier.

“My dad would always ask me ‘Do you want to be part of something big, or do you want to go somewhere and help change something into something bigger than what it was,” Williams recalled. “That’s why being here means everything to me.”

Williams has gone from walk-on to scholarship player to key contributor on a nationally-ranked team looking to make history.

After winning a program-best 11 games last season, the University of Louisiana has an opportunity to go 10-1 this season with a win over UTSA in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl in Dallas on Saturday. A win against the Road Runners would give the Ragin’ Cajuns double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.

“To be part of this team, to be part of what we are doing here is special,” Williams said.

Two sports, one star

Williams was a natural athlete growing up in Opelousas, one who had a passion for all sports. He played football, basketball, baseball and even running track. That athletic ability was noticed early on by his future high school baseball coach at Westminster Christian Academy.

“When I saw him throw for the first time, I knew that he had that God-given ability,” said Barry Manuel, who starred at LSU before pitching for five seasons in MLB. “His mechanics were already good. You could see there was something inside of him that was going to come out. There were just a few things that needed to be tweaked here and there but he was going to be something to be reckoned with.”

Williams connected with Manuel instantly, first attending his camps before sponging up as much knowledge from the former big leaguer.

“Coach Manuel had so much knowledge,” Williams said. “When I went to those camps I saw the type of person he was, and how he took time out to teach fundamentals and how to carry yourself like a professional. I loved Coach Barry and always will.”

“He was constantly asking questions,” Manuel said. “He would ask how to get his slider to move a little more or how to throw a changeup better. He was intrigued by it all. I could tell that his heart was what he wanted to do. I was trying to give him all the knowledge that I could.”

Williams went on to become a multiple-sport star at WCA.

During his senior season in 2012, he earned first-team all-state honors after hauling in 63 receptions for 884 yards and scoring nine touchdowns as he helped the Crusaders to 10 wins and a state quarterfinal appearance.

Williams also earned All-State honors in baseball as he helped the team to a quarterfinal appearance, and was especially dominant during the postseason when he struck out 26 hitters in only 19 innings of work.

“When he went out on that bump he looked intimidating,” Manuel said. “He was the real deal.”

Williams was adamant about playing both football and baseball and when Nicholls State offered him that opportunity, he not only verbally committed but also signed on National Signing Day.

Williams, though, never played a down or inning with the Colonels.

In the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft, the Boston Red Sox selected Williams in the 16th round. Williams chose to forgo playing college for a shot to get to the big leagues.

“I really sat around and thought about it for a long time,” Williams admitted. “In my mind, I thought that I could either go play in both sports and maybe get hurt in one of them and not play at all. Or I could play baseball and then always have my backup be football.”

“I wanted him to go to college to get that degree but on the other side there was an opportunity to go play ball,” Manuel said. “I told him that it was a tough life but worth it.”

Minor Leaguer, Walk-On & More

Williams began his professional career playing rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League, and the adjustment from high school ace to rotational pitcher was a bit of a challenge.

“It was real different,” Williams said. “I went from the coach putting the ball in my hand every game to not. You pitch one day and then not pitching another game or two or three. It was really different.”

Williams also had to adjust to the language barrier of playing baseball with Latinos.

“I remember my first game, and I was getting ready to go up to them and they all started speaking Spanish,” laughed Williams. “I had to start working on my Spanish to start communicating with teammates. It was fun. I loved it.”

For the next two years, Williams kept plugging away at pitching in the minor leagues. There were good moments in the game, memorable moments like sharing a weight room with World Series champions like David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez but the life of a minor leaguer was a grind.

“It really tests how much you love baseball,” Williams said.

Towards the end of his third season, Williams realized that his big league dreams were not going to become a reality.

“You just hope the work you put in will eventually lead to you getting the call to move up,” Williams said. “So I prayed about it a lot. I wanted to play baseball but maybe it’s not going to happen.”

So Williams turned to his backup plan.

Williams considered playing football at Nicholls but opted to walk-on at LSU — the alma mater of his cousin Devery Henderson. In 2016, Williams was a member of the Tigers’ scout team and dressed out for home games in Death Valley.

“It was real fun,” Williams said. “Just being able to see those players, top caliber players, everyday and then going up against them in practice. I mean I was going up against the first team defense all week and all season. I practiced against Jamal Adams, Donte Jackson, Devin White and Tre White. It was amazing.”

Williams loved his time in Baton Rouge but missed home and really wanted an opportunity to play varsity football. Williams once again prayed about and then decided to transfer to UL and walk on with the Ragin’ Cajuns.

After sitting out the 2017 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Williams saw limited action on offense and special teams in coach Billy Napier’s first season at the helm. Williams took on a more significant part of the team’s passing attack the past two seasons.

The 6-foot-3, 218-pound Williams enters Saturday’s bowl game with the third-most receiving yards (345), a team-best 18.16 yards per catch average and is tied for a team-high three touchdowns.

“I look back at the film of some of those plays from my first season,and I realize how far I have come,” Williams said. “I am really proud of myself. The work I have put in day and day out. It is paying off in a real big way.”

“He is a heck of an athlete,” Napier said. “He has become a very consistent and dependable performer for our team. You know what you are going to get everyday from Jalen Williams. He battled the injury bug the first couple of years and he has really settled in and has been very productive for us this year.”

Along the way, Williams, who gave up a scholarship to pursue baseball and would play as a walk-on for two schools, finally became a scholarship player when Napier gave him a scholarship in 2018 — on his birthday nonetheless.

“It touched my heart,” Williams said. “I didn’t see it coming. The guys used to joke to me that they thought I could pay for my schooling because I played baseball. It was really special.”

Williams will soon be forced to make a decision about his collegiate career.

With the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the redshirt senior could very well come back and play more seasons for the Ragin’ Cajuns in the fall of 2021.

The 25-year-old acknowledges that making the decision has been on his mind these days, but that right now he is focused on soaking in the experience of being on this year’s team.

“I don’t really want to start thinking about that too much,” Williams said. “It has been in my head and I don’t want to shove it away, because it would give me another opportunity to play with these guys on this team. I just don’t want that to take away from what we have going on right now. That’s what’s important.”