Hoop Dreams: How One High Flier Playing in Eagan Hopes to Land a Pro Contract

It’s hard not to notice Torrieo Williams when he walks into the gym.

At around six-foot-nine, the 23-year-old oozes athleticism, and his ear-to-ear smile flashes often as he mingles and slaps hands with those waiting to join the next full-court pickup game.

Most here to shoot hoops on this Friday night know Williams—if not by name then certainly by reputation. Clearly the best player on the floor, Williams seems to glide from one end of the court to the other. He dunks with ease, rebounds above the rim and swishes one three pointer after another over double and triple teams.

“I love basketball,” he said. “I want this to be my career for a long time. It makes me happy. It’s my gift—the gift God gave me.”

Williams has been bouncing a basketball since he could walk, but he didn’t begin playing organized ball until he was a junior in high school.

“I was kind of a late bloomer,” he said.

After two years at Hopkins High School, Williams transferred to Roosevelt in 2006.

“That Hopkins team was stacked at the time, so I transferred to have an opportunity to grow and play and learn the game,” he said.

Williams blossomed at Roosevelt and was heavily recruited by Division I schools like Georgia and Kennesaw State. Williams’ head drops and shakes when asked what kept him from attending a top college and climbing the ranks of NBA prospects.

“I didn’t take my grades seriously,” he said. “I wound up graduating on the honor roll, but my GPA was like a 2.02. I wasn’t qualified.”

Williams ended up accepting a scholarship offer from a junior college in Illinois. From there he transferred to Mankato, where he struggled with an unfamiliar system and a nagging, albeit minor, injury.

“It was a good program, but the coach and I just didn’t see eye to eye,” Williams said. “But it ended up making me a better player and a better person. It made me work harder and made me see what level I needed to be at.”

Williams has now turned his attention to turning pro, and was invited to attend a D League tryout in Sioux Falls last year. The D League is a developmental league for NBA teams, much like the minor leagues in baseball.

“It didn’t work out,” he said. “In my opinion I wasn’t ready for the rigors of it. I have the height, but I needed to put on a little weight and muscle and a little bit more skill.”

The experience in Sioux Falls was exactly what Williams needed to take his game—and training—to another level.

“Ever since I’ve just been working hard at it—five, six days a week, all the time. It’s starting to show—it’s starting to show in my game,” he said. “I’m just trying to get better in every way I possibly can. I’m ready to take the next step. I feel like I’m ready for any level now because I’ve never worked this hard.”

Playing overseas in Europe and landing a spot on a squad sooner rather than later is now Williams’ focus. He believes he has the talent to play in Spain or France or Germany and to put up great numbers. From there, anything is possible, he says.

“My dream is to play for an NBA squad,” Williams said. “I feel like I have the skills and athleticism to do it. I just have to enhance a little bit more fundamentally and enhance my skills.

Williams went on to say he considers himself a “3” (or small forward) and a stretch “4” (power forward).

“I can shoot the ball from deep, I can facilitate for my teammates, I’m comfortable handling the ball and I can move out of the high post, too,” he said. “That’s why I feel like if a team wanted me to play the 4 I could do that—but the 3 is where I’m most comfortable.”

Williams is currently looking for an agent, and says he’s ready to turn heads as soon as he gets a tryout opportunity. He’s currently playing pickup games around the Metro area and has joined a team in the Howard Pulley Pro City League in Eagan—which just started last weekend and features unsigned prospects like the U of M’s Trevor Mbackwe, and Rodney Williams.

“It felt good to go to a league that has players at the level I want to get to,” Williams said. “I feel like I would fit in perfectly with these players. It’s the best place to hoop for me right now.”

He has a tryout coming up later this summer for some European coaches coming to Minnesota to scout prospects and hopes to land a roster spot by the fall.

“I’m going to see how it goes and hopefully meet a coach that likes me and wants to talk contract,” he said. “If that doesn’t work out I’m going to go to a tryout in Las Vegas in July. My goal by the end of the summer is to be a professional basketball player somewhere in Europe.”