It doesn’t take long to see why Paul Williams has all the potential to be a standout basketball player. The North Bergen High School sophomore stands 6-foot-8 and appears as an imposing figure, even if he is just 16 years old. He walks with the air and confidence of a star basketball player, even if he doesn’t realize it yet. It took time for Williams to realize that he had the makings of a star. The height, the frame, the makeup, the ability. They’re all there. He just needed to put it all into action. And seven games into the season, Williams just wasn’t getting it done, averaging a mere five points per game. “My confidence wasn’t really that high,” Williams explained last week. “At first, I think I was scared. I wasn’t ready and I definitely wasn’t playing my game. I knew that my teammates needed me out there and I wasn’t doing my job. So when we were losing, I took the blame. I never had that confident feeling.” But last Friday, before the young Bruins were set to face undefeated and state-ranked Memorial, the Bruins had a team meeting. “We got together and they all told me that they needed me to step up,” Williams said. “I knew I had to go out there and play hard. I couldn’t let my teammates down anymore. This is all about team. This is what we play for, the team. I couldn’t play bad anymore.” That’s a lot of pressure to be placed upon the shoulders of a sophomore who didn’t even play junior varsity basketball last year. “We didn’t think he was good enough to put on the JV,” says North Bergen head coach John Barone. “Honestly, Paul showed us nothing. He was tall. That he had. But as a player, we really didn’t think he had much.” The kid who didn’t have much as a freshman was ready to show what he could do as a sophomore. Finally. After all the anticipation and the expectation, Williams came through in flying colors. The lanky youngster collected 16 points, 13 rebounds and an astonishing 11 blocked shots in North Bergen’s 49-47 upset victory over Memorial, knocking the Tigers from the unbeaten ranks and the state’s Top 20 in the process. Williams followed up the performance with 18 points and 12 rebounds in a 50-46 victory over Hoboken. And for his efforts, Williams has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week. Barone thought it was just a matter of time before Williams became a player of impact. “He really had improved a lot over the summer, going to camps to improve his game,” Barone said. “But we really couldn’t tell how far he came with the competition we were playing earlier in the season. When we got back to our level in the county, that’s what did wonders for him. The game against Memorial was his coming-out party.” Barone said that he couldn’t believe what Williams did against Memorial, especially the shot block total. “While he was doing it, I was stunned,” Barone said. “He was coming across the floor, blocking shots left and right. I said then that he was going to be a force. He’s improved every game and he’s only going to get better. But that game, he developed faster than I could have ever imagined.” Williams, who was born in Los Angeles and raised in New York before moving to North Bergen three years ago, hopes that last week was only the beginning of what he can accomplish. “People are beginning to take notice of what I can do, and that’s nice,” Williams said. “I started growing a lot when I was 13, but I never played basketball and I never really wanted to play. But people told me that I should play because I had grown so tall. It’s not an excuse that I’ve only been playing for three years. I should be able to play well and better than what I’ve done.” Williams added, “I had no idea I had 11 blocks. Usually, I’m a good shot-blocker, but never that many. I never had a triple-double (double figures in points, rebounds and blocks) before, so it’s something I’ll always remember.” Barone knows that he has a raw talent on his hands, a talent who has a ton of potential and an obviously bright future. “He’s still a puppy,” Barone said. “But he’s a 6-foot-8 puppy. And he’s a great kid who just wants to play. Now, he’s putting up numbers that are going to get him some attention. He’s now a little ahead of schedule, which is amazing.” Williams knows that the future looks bright. “I’ve always cared too much about what people thought of me, instead of just doing it,” Williams said. “I still have a long way to go, but I know that I can do a lot if I just work hard. A week like this is going to help my confidence go up. Before, I was unsure if I could do it. Now, I have to play up to my potential.” It’s not often that North Bergen gets to develop 6-to-8 shot blocking machines. It’s safe to say that Paul Williams’ career is definitely on the rise. – Jim Hague