After taking 1st place and MVP honors with the THESA Riders (Fort Worth, TX) in her last two NCHBC tournaments, Whitney Williams has started her collegiate career in stride. But before the college scholarship to a major division 1 basketball program and the national homeschool basketball titles and the MVP trophies, Whitney Williams had to endure failure. Williams actually lost the same homeschool tournament (NCHBC) not one year, but two years in a row in her freshman and sophomore years. This more than the first place finishes shows the resilience and dedication of a leader and a champion. Williams was a starter in all four years of high school and finished with more than 3,500 points including more than 500 3-pointers. She also won the Pete Maravich award, which is given out to only one player each year at the NCHBC tournament.

The winning tradition is also something that Williams left behind with the THESA Riders team from Forth Worth, TX. This past March, they won the national title for a record third straight year.

This year, as a true freshman, Williams played in every game from pre-season to the NCAA Elite Eight. In her college debut against UMKC, Williams made her 1st two 3-pointers and finished with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. In a word, Williams was ‘solid’ all year long. Head coach Bill Fennelly routinely trusted Williams with the ball in critical situations of the game as the Cyclones made their NCAA title run. Williams finished the year averaging 2.1 points and 1 assist per game. Her season high was against No. 5 Stanford in Hawaii. She scored 10 points and connected on three 3-pointers in 24 minutes of action.

We were able to get a quick interview with Whitney to get some valuable advice on preparing for college as well as insight into what it is like to be a collegiate student-athlete.

HSI—
What advice would you give other Homeschoolers who are working to play sports in college?

Williams—
Look for opportunities to play with or against the best players and teams that you can. If you’re around good players, not only will your own game improve, you will get noticed as well.

HSI—
What advice would you give on preparing for your first year on campus?

Williams—
I would say to expect it to be extremely challenging. I know I was terrified of the changes I would encounter as a college student/athlete, but at some point I got over the nerves and realized how exciting a time it is to go to college.

HSI—
How did homeschooling help prepare you for college?

Williams—
Homeschooling definitely helped me learn how to learn on my own. You don’t get a lot of individual attention when you’re just one student out of 350 others in a single class. You have to rely on your own study time in college to make grades and learn, much like homeschooling.