All-First Coast boys basketball: Road warrior Caleb Williams led Trojan trek for Ribault

Don't call it business as usual for Caleb Williams.

For his senior year at Ribault, some of his daily realities were the exact opposite. No home gym, not even a home high school campus. Almost no varsity experience from his new teammates. And a slew of opponents that knew they wouldn't get caught off guard this time around.

New challenges, yes. But coming into his final chance to shine for Ribault, he resolved to cap his Trojans career with an exclamation point.

"I said [before the season], I'm the best player in the city and I'm going to show them this year," he said.

The road warrior of Ribault, the Trojans' senior is the Times-Union's All-First Coast player of the year for high school boys basketball in Northeast Florida for the second consecutive season.

He turned up his already impressive stats to the next level for his final year in Ribault blue: 23.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 4.1 steals.

With his season, Williams joins a select list of back-to-back All-First Coast honorees in the sport, including the likes of Myron Anthony (Fletcher), Derwin Kitchen (Raines), Grayson Allen (Providence) and Isaiah Adams (Paxon).

Any way you look at it, that's special.

"I was really just staying focused," he said. "You pick your spots on the court and work out every day, getting a lot of shots and that repetition, and just getting the confidence in yourself to make the shots and make the key plays that you need."

CLEARING THE OBSTACLES

What made this year's feats even more special for Williams?

Ribault lost nearly its entire roster from the 2022-23 final four squad. Frontcourt standouts Kalvin Gilbert and Kevin Stokes were among Ribault's graduates a year ago, and the Trojans lost several others to transfers.

"He had to keep getting better and score for us a lot more," said Charles Showers, Ribault's head coach as well as Williams' stepfather.

And Williams did it all while playing without a true home gym. With Ribault's home campus now the site of a near-total demolition and reconstruction scheduled to continue into 2025, he had to adjust to life on the go.

Sometimes, that meant game action at neutral schools or at Edward Waters University atop the bright orange and purple floor of the Adams-Jenkins Sports & Music Complex.

More often, Ribault's players lined up for home games at Ribault Middle School, a familiar setting but one with fewer seats and tighter confines.

"The practice time, we're getting used to a smaller court," he said. "We got to practice at E-Dub [Edward Waters] sometimes, getting to play there with the college lines. That's really it, just learning those surroundings."

On top of his basketball and academic responsibilities, Williams also served as one of 16 statewide members of the Florida High School Athletic Association's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

'SO MUCH BETTER': STEPPING UP AS A SCORER

Since his transition from a pass-first point guard role after his freshman year, Williams was already a proven scorer for Ribault. But to make the next step this year, he had to add some new tools to his game, all while learning an entirely new offense during the summer months.

"The biggest thing is he shot the 3-ball really well," Showers said. "He really worked to adjust his mid-range when he gets inside to the taller guys."

Defenses knew the Trojans were going to look to Williams for points, again and again. They still couldn't stop him.

But more than ever before, Williams had to put up with relentless physical pounding — opponents sent him to the free-throw line 223 times this year, close to eight foul shots per game. He converted those at an 82 percent clip.

"The biggest challenge was playing through the double teams every night and still trying to win the game," he said. "Sometimes it was frustrating."

He completes his Ribault career with 1,509 points, 602 assists, 344 rebounds and 339 steals, among the most productive all-around players for Duval County public schools of the 21st century.

And, significantly, Showers said Williams honed some of the attacking instincts likely to make a difference beyond high school.

"He made better decisions this year when he got into the paint," Showers said, "and that's what made him so much better."

DESTINATION LAFAYETTE

For the first three years of his Ribault career, the college basketball recruiting game wasn't moving fast for Williams — part of the reality for a 6-foot guard in the age of the NCAA transfer portal.

Then, along came Lafayette.

Before his recruiting visit, Williams said, he'd never been to Pennsylvania. But his first experience with the Patriot League school, located in Easton, Pa., changed everything.

"I liked how they were joking with me," he said. "It's not all about seriousness, it's about having fun and being a family. They have that support system, the education and the basketball team."

Williams committed to Lafayette in March, solidifying a pathway to Easton from Winton Drive. On Wednesday, atop the stage of that middle school gym, he put pen to paper and made his college dreams a reality.

"He's shown he's a D-I player by what he does and how he does it," Showers said.

There's a new number on the way — the wearer of No. 3 for all of those years at Ribault, Williams is already lined up with the No. 1 jersey at Lafayette — but a familiar approach to building his game for the NCAA.

"It's the same thing," he said. "Just putting a lot of shots in, getting stronger, getting bigger and working on the mental part of the game with your brain. You've got to listen to all the older people that did it before and just learn everything that you can to get yourself better and do that at the next level."

After life as a Duval County road warrior, he's ready for any challenges he encounters in the Keystone State.

"Lace up, get on the court, play your heart out and just be ready," Williams said.

ALL-FIRST COAST BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Caleb Williams

Senior, Ribault

Age: 18

Resume: Averaged 23.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 4.1 steals as a senior. … Led Ribault to Region 1-4A semifinals and Gateway Conference semifinals. … Scored 1,509 points in his Trojans career. … Committed to Lafayette.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Caleb Williams, Ribault: All-First Coast boys basketball award, 2024