Stillwater's Williams corners market on drive
STILL WATER—Te vin Williams has never shied away from competition.
Growing up as the second youngest of 12 siblings, a competitive drive was instilled within him at a young age.
As a running back in third grade, Williams scored si x touchdowns in one game because he was chasing his brother' s record of seven. The game was an epitome of Williams' competitiveness. If he wasn't competing with his younger sister on the basketball court, he was competing with his brothers on the football field.
“That' s how my whole family is,” Williams said. “We always find little things to compete against. There's not a game we can play that doesn't break out into arguments.”
His competitive family has done nothing but improve his
motor on the football field and shape him into the player he is today.
Williams is No .16 on The Oklahoman's 2021 Super 30 list of top football recruits in the state. As a 6-foot-1, 180-pound defensive back, he' s helped lead Still water High School to consecutive undefeated regular seasons and Class 6A-II state championship births.
After a stellar junior season, Williams had 11 scholarship offers ranging from the Big 12 and Sun Belt conferences to the service academies. The list would have continued to grow had he not committed to Baylor in April.
In middle school, Williams played both wide receiver and defensive back. But before his high school career, he wasn't a big fan of the defensive back position.
With quarter backs rarely throwing the ball down the field, Williams said the role of the defensive back mostly revolved around containment of the outside, so he preferred playing wide receiver.
But in his sophomore year, the corner back position grew into a more valuable role as quarterbacks began to throw the ball as well.
When Williams learned Stillwater needed more depth at defensive back, he signed up for the challenge.
Williams began
About the series
The Oklahoman's Super 30 feature series will spotlight each high school football player on the Super 30 recruit rankings for the 2020 class. The series continued Saturday with No. 16, Stillwater's Tevin Williams. See No. 15 on the list in Sunday's editions of The Oklahoman. Here are the last five players we've featured:
No. 20: James Burnett, LB, Edmond Santa Fe
No. 19: Melvin Swindle, OL/ DL, Heritage Hall
No. 18: Logan Nobles, OL, Jenks
No. 17: Chase Jackson, WR, Choctaw
No. 16: Tevin Williams, DB, Stillwater practicing drills to improve his breaks, backpedaling and reaction time. He worked on any drill presented to him, oftentimes taking drills college coaches were teaching at camps.
“I started taking corner more seriously,” Williams said. “And then from there on, I excelled at playing corner.”
In his sophomore season, Williams recorded 31 tackles and two interceptions. He followed it with 38 tackles and two interceptions in his junior season while regularly covering the opposing team's best receiver.
“I'd rather have a good receiver togo against than an average receiver,” Williams said. “I find it really fun guarding guys that are good because it challenges me as a defender and I'm all for that competition.”
“That's how my whole family is. We always find little things to compete against. There's not a game we can play that doesn't break out into arguments.”
Stillwater cornerback Tevin Williams