What people have said about Fly Williams:
"Fly Williams is the most exciting collegiate basketball player since Pete Maravich." -Marty Blake, pro scout*
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"Fly is not all the gunner his name or that record implies. Occasionally he will leave mouths gaping by taking a shot that defies description, but most of his points come after a variety of moves so fluid that he seems hardly to have exerted himself." -William T. White, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED*
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"Fly is called James Williams by the few who either know nor appreciate the magnitude of his escapades and talents. Each of his intimates--the mother who held little hope of advancing beyond the 500 block of Stone Avenue in Brooklyn, the less than saintly man who set him straight, and the assistant headmaster of a prep school--has a favorite Fly tale. The stories are mostly true."--Kenneth Denlinger, THE WASHINGTON POST
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"Since arriving at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., from the ghettos of New York, James "Fly" Williams has seen his first cow, his first pig, and achieved a level of status somewhere between the local parson and the governor.
"Where once the game of basketball was tolerated passively, it is now a pastime of near-passionate proportion in the state. Playgrounds and dirt courts throughout the state are dotted with youngsters garbed in "Fly" T-shirts and sneakers bearing the school's initials, AP on the sole of one, SU on the other.
"The Little Red Barn," whose 2,305 seating capacity once seemed excessive, is suddenly hopelessly inadequate. For the Murray State game 1,400 ardent locals stood in line for six hours hoping to buy standing room. Still more--700 to be precise00jammed into the student center to watch the 'Fly' and his swarm on closed circuit TV.
"Even Christianity has been caught up in the manis, with the Rev. John David Laida going so far as to contemplate changing his first name to 'Fly.' "I Think I'll call myself 'Fly' Laida and see if I can pack the church," he told his Clarksville congregation." ---Rob Sieb, THE BASKETBALL NEWS*
*From the 1973 Austin Peay State University media guide, post-season update: