The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
JEFF JACOBS
Former baseball player to run for state Senate
STORRS — Donovan Williams was faced with countless questions but no easy answers in the days after the 2017 season.
If he wanted to be a quarterback, he would need to transfer out of UConn. However, there was no way of guaranteeing he would discover the same kinship he has developed with his Connecticut teammates.
Not long after the season concluded, there was a report that Williams, who was the Huskies’ starting quarterback for the final three games of the 2016 season, intended to transfer. After a couple of heart-to-heart talks with UConn coach Randy Edsall and more than a few calls back home, Williams decided he would be staying at UConn. The next step was truly embracing the move to receiver.
“I was battling; it was definitely a discussion me and my family was having because I still had a love for the position even at the end of last season,” Williams said. “Ultimately, I felt like UConn was the best place for me and the role, I was definitely going to try to thrive in that and make the most of it.”
There might not be a position on the UConn team with more depth than receiver. Williams knew the only way to move up the depth chart was to bid adieu to his desire to play quarterback and focus solely on his work as a receiver. Spring practice has been a time when Williams believes he has done just that.
“I think the difference between this spring and when I started playing last year, I think I’ve devoted myself to it because I’m taking it more seriously now,” Williams said. “When I first got put on (at receiver), I was like, ‘All right, what’s my job?’ Now, I take it seriously because it’s a vital part of the game so I want to be impactful. At this point, I don’t even
think about QB anymore, but when I first (moved to receiver), I had a love for the position. It was a tough transition but the more and more you get acclimated to it, now it’s just natural. I just love to play football and I feel like I can be a very productive receiver on this team.”
With each passing practice, Williams is doing a better job catching the ball. He’s ready to show what he can do at Saturday’s BlueWhite Game, which is scheduled to start at noon at Rentschler Field.
Hergy Mayala, who led UConn with 43 catches, 615 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions during the 2017 season, suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee, forcing him to miss Tuesday’s
practice. He won’t practice Thursday or play in the spring game but Edsall believes he will be ready for the start of summer camp. Edsall said top rusher Kevin Mensah will also be held out of the rest of spring drills along with defensive end James Atkins and quarterback Marvin Washington due to academics.
There have been no such issues with Williams doing the work in the classroom or being as diligent in team meetings.
Williams was one of 41 members of the 2017 UConn football team honored for attaining at least a 3.0 grade-point average in either the fall or spring semester. That studious approach has helped him on the football field.
“The thing about Donovan is it’s important to him,” Edsall said. “You can see in the meetings, he’s taking notes all the time and doing all the things that you want somebody to do, he’s doing the things on special teams, he’s doing the things at receiver. He’s one of those guys who just works, doesn’t say a whole lot and just works. He’s a pleasure to be around but his attention to detail and his knowledge of what he needs to do, he has improved dramatically from when he first started as a receiver.”
Another player drawing praise from Edsall has been running back Nate Hopkins, another one of the recognized scholar-athletes.
“(Hopkins) is a guy who has had a really good spring,” Edsall said. “You talk about a guy who has changed his body. I had some question marks about him, sometimes I didn’t think his effort was as good as it needed to be or should have been.”
Hopkins estimates that his body-fat percentage has dropped by 10 or 11 percent since arriving at UConn. The 6-foot-1, 213-pound Hopkins is still UConn’s biggest running back, but has lost 12 pounds since the start of the 2016 season. Hopkins joked that his grandmother’s cooking was so good it led to a less-thanoptimal body-fat percentage.
“I have a big frame; obviously I’m the biggest back we have, and that’s how I always prided myself in high school and even before that. I like to get up north and south, get low and I don’t shy away from contact,” Hopkins said. “At the same time, I don’t want to be one-dimensional, either; I’m trying to be as versatile as possible.”