Childhood pals on hand, Williams-Goss takes S.C. to school
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The unbreakable bond between the three boys began in fourth grade at Happy Valley Elementary, and so Alex Humble drove here from Salt Lake City and Alex Roth flew in from Portland to watch Nigel Williams-Goss lead Gonzaga past South Carolina Saturday night in a Final Four semifinal.
Humble and Roth have been there every step of the way watching their childhood friend’s magical March Madness journey, and they were sitting in Section 132 Row X inside University of Phoenix Stadium, cheering him on as Gonzaga, the 77-73 winner, survived a furious second-half South Carolina comeback.
Williams-Goss, helped immensely by 7foot freshman Zach Collins (14 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks), poured in 23 points and played through a sore right ankle he turned early in the second half.
“I’m not going to let anything stop me at this point,” Williams-Goss said, standing just 40 minutes from a national championship.
“Pure elation; something that words can’t really encapsulate,” Humble told the Post after the game. “It truly feels like we are living in a dream, yet when the alarm sounds it’s actually the buzzer and the dream continues. I’m so proud and honored to witness and support the ride.”
“Incredible, we are all so proud and can’t wait for Monday,” Roth told the Post. “This is a dream come true for Nigel, and everyone that he has touched in our community.”
Their friend has overcome all odds to honor the tattoo on his back that reads: Dreamkeeper.
“The significance behind it is everyone has these dreams, and then we grow up and then reality sets in and we lose them,” Humble said.
“And Nigel, he’s a Dreamkeeper. He’s out there to make his dreams a reality, and to me, every time I see him on the big stage, I just had to think of those nights we stayed up talking in my room or his room, where our parents told us to go to bed and it’s 2:30, 3 o’clock in the morning and we’re talking about sports, and we’re talking about basketball and saying, ‘One day that’s going to be me. One day I’m going to be playing in the Final Four. One day I’m going to be on the TV, they’re going to see me on ESPN.’ And just to see that come true, it shows hard work pays off. You have a vision, you have a dream, go get it. And that’s what Nigel’s doing right now.”
Williams-Goss was 18 and getting ready to pursue his college basketball dream when he got the tattoo in Las Vegas.
“I was there when he got that one,” Roth said. “Nigel got that tattoo because everybody’s so quick to try and take everybody’s dreams away. ... It’s just him promising himself that he’s going to keep his dreams and do everything he can to achieve it.”
Williams-Goss left an immediate indelible impression on Roth and Humble when he first met them in Happy Valley, Ore.
“He was far better than everybody at recess, far better than anybody that had lived in our town previously,” Roth said. “It was a shock to everybody.”
The boys would all attend different high schools. Williams-Goss moved from Happy Valley to Las Vegas and Findlay Prep High School.
“He would fly to Portland or we’d fly down to Vegas for the week or a weekend whenever we could, for birthdays, for whatever it was, graduation,” Humble said. “Findlay Prep is not like a high school where you have a bunch of friends and you play basketball — no, it’s just basketball. There’s just ... the team. So he didn’t get the high school experience. But with all of us, we’d travel down there and he’d come back home and we got to kind of help him have that experience a little bit.”
Roth had dinner with Williams-Goss Friday evening.
“He stopped and talked to everybody,” Roth said. “That’s the Nigel we all know, and he hasn’t changed a bit.”
Humble actually stayed over Thursday night at Williams-Goss’ Las Vegas home before completing the 10-hour drive Friday. “I slept in his room,” Humble said. Humble and Roth will stay through Monday night to watch their friend try to defeat North Carolina and cut down the nets.
“I’m planning on going out on the town Monday night in Phoenix celebrating Gonzaga’s first championship,” Humble said.
Dreamkeeper.