Championship Pedigree
Missouri basketball's highly regarded 2013 recruiting class made up of Johnathan Williams III, Wesley Clark, Torren Jones, Shane Rector, and Keanau Post is set to start arriving on campus around the beginning of June. Each player comes from highly successful schools and programs, but just two finished their careers as champions.
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PowerMizzou.com caught up with Williams III and Clark to find out what went into them leaving high school as state champions and what they hope to bring to Mizzou.
Each player admitted that going into their senior seasons their expectations were to win the state championship after having highly successful junior years and the work started almost as soon as those junior seasons were over.
"I sacrificed a lot of my time," Clark said. "We ran hills and just lots of shooting and conditioning. We did a lot of work mentally and physically."
"We came into the season and just worked really hard and stayed focused as a team and played together," Williams III added. "Every time we stepped on the court we had something to prove as a team. That's one of the main reasons we won the state championship."
Despite finishing their respective seasons and careers as they had envisioned with a state championship neither had perfect mistake free seasons.
"During the season there are always going to be struggles it just depends on how you work through those struggles and become better as a team and individually," Williams III explained.
"We thought we were a lot better than we were as a team against Pershing," added Clark. "That was really an eye opener that made us play harder. We took that as a positive and got better from that game."
Now that both players are heading to Mizzou they agreed that there are certain things they can take from their senior championship seasons and bring with them.
"I bring a will and a motor to get anything done and make sure everyone is in the right position to make shots. I get everyone in the right position for us to win," Clark said. "I base my career off of winning so I'm trying to bring a winning mindset to Missouri so we can do some big things."
"Whatever obstacles come up you have to keep fighting through them and that God is always there," added Williams III.
Despite the storybook like end to both of their careers their are regrets and lots of work to be done.
"There is always room for improvement," Williams III said. "I have to keep on improving my game and always stay focused and humble and keep God first."
"I would have liked to be undefeated, but other than that it doesn't really get to much better than this," said Clark.