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When Candice Williams began playing basketball, she approached the game with a view to the future.
“I started playing basketball for two reasons,” said Williams, a 1995 Jefferson graduate who will be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame April 12. “The first was that my dad [Ed] was my hero and his favorite sport was basketball. I heard many stories about his glory days and thought this would be something we could share, bond over and enjoy together.
“The second reason was I was fortunate enough to have grandparents that took a real interest in me and talked to me often about the importance of finances and getting an education. Both lived through the depression and I was told often to take care of my money, save it and stay out of debt. Neither my grandma or grandfather were able to complete high school and felt they could have been much more successful if they had access to an education.
“So I thought ‘How can I get a college education without going into debt?’ I knew I didn’t have the dedication to apply myself academically, but did have the drive to get an athletic scholarship. I decided around the age of 13 or 14 that this would be the way I would achieve that goal. That’s when I decided to take basketball seriously. It wasn’t just about becoming a great athlete, but it was a tool to becoming a successful, independent woman that could stand on her own two feet.”
But the game became more than that to her, as she now realizes.
“The truth is, basketball wasn’t just a game to me, it was my first love that turned into an obsession,” she said. “I faced many obstacles trying to achieve my goals, had a lot of good times, disappointments and heartbreak along the way because I was so invested.
“However, now, as an adult looking back, I realize just how blessed I was to have so many people that loved me and supported me on my journey. My dad, Ed Williams, and grandparents, Dalton and Opal Williams, were at nearly every game from junior high through college [even the games I played in West Virginia]. My siblings, Aunt Sheila and Uncle Ron, my cousins and friends, showed up to support me often. I am so thankful that I had so many people cheering me on throughout my career. I really felt so loved.”
Williams began her basketball journey with her first real opportunity — in the seventh grade.
Larry Meloro, her vice principal in high school, was her first coach.
When she got to her freshman year, Williams came under the tutelage of Gary Thaxton.
“I had worked really hard on my game the summer before my freshman year and he recognized this in me and was the first coach to see that I had talent,” she said. “I really enjoyed playing for him.
“He was the first coach to believe in me and treated me with great respect. He made the game fun, no pressure and I appreciated that along with his confidence in my ability.”
At 5’8”, Williams played point guard, shooting guard and small forward for the Falcons.
“I stopped growing my junior year,” she said. “My teammates to note were my two best friends, Laura [Talcott] Grippi and Kiki McNair. The three of us were very close my junior and senior year. I pretty much had the same teammates from my sophomore year on with the exception of Stacy Allen transferring in from PV my senior year. She was a fantastic addition to our team.”
At the time, the Falcons were coached by Hall of Famer Rod Holmes, who became the winningest basketball coach in Ashtabula County, male or female.
“He and I had our ups and downs through the years, but the one thing I appreciated about him most was that he never screamed and yelled or belittled his players or threw a fit if we missed a shot or made a turnover,” Williams said. “He always just let us play through the mistakes without making an issue of it. I grew to appreciate this more from him as I continued my career on throughout college as I found most coaches weren’t as laid-back as coach Holmes.”
Williams doesn’t remember the Falcons’ records from that year, but knows they were Northeastern Conference champions in her junior and senior years.
She believes Jefferson shared the title with its chief rival, Madison, one of those seasons.
Williams recalls three games in particular, beginning with the last regular-season game in her junior year.
“We needed to win against Ashtabula to clinch the conference title,” she said. “I got fouled with barely any time on the clock and had to hit free throws to win. I made both.”
The second game was her senior year against Saint John.
“I scored 21 points in the first half and didn’t score a point the second half,” Williams said. “Not because the opportunity wasn’t there, but I really wanted my teammates to score and feel good about themselves also.
“I tried getting Kiki and Laura the ball as much as possible. I’m proud of myself for that … I feel like that says a lot about my character, that I could have had a standout game worrying about my own accolades but instead focused on my teammates.
“At the end of the game, the coach from St. John came up to me and said, ‘You have my vote.’ I’m assuming that meant for player of the year or first team all-conference, but it made me feel good that he recognized that in me.”
The final game she singles out also came in her senior year, this time against Madison.
“I played great and played so hard that I was too exhausted to stand when it was over,” Williams said. “College coaches had come to scout, most likely myself and [Madison’s] Sonja Brainard, and at halftime the scouts were asking around in the stands if anyone knew who my parents were so they could talk to me after the game. It was a great feeling.”
Among the awards Williams received at Jefferson were Player of the Week twice, first-team all-county and All-NEC her junior and senior years and MVP of the NEC-ESC game.
Williams believes she scored between 750 and 800 points at Jefferson.
“I do know at the time I graduated I was eighth on the all-time scoring list at Jefferson,” she said. “I’m certain I’ve dropped a few spots since then.”
In addition to basketball, Williams played softball her freshman and sophomore years, before switching to track in the hopes of improving her vertical jump height to help with basketball.
Williams definitely wanted to go to college. She had interest from several Division III schools.
“But that wasn’t an option since they didn’t offer full athletic scholarships,” she said. “I also felt I was good enough to play at a higher level.
“I was heavily recruited by Mercyhurst and Lakeland after high school. I ended up choosing Lakeland since they offered immediate playing time and paid for everything except books.”
That made Lakeland an easy choice for her.
“My freshman year I was a part-time starter/sixth man,” Williams said. “My sophomore year I was a starter. It was a great decision for me.”
When Williams finished her two years at Lakeland, she found herself with more options to continue playing basketball.
“I was recruited by one very large Division I school, a couple MAC [Mid-American Conference] schools and several Division II schools,” she said. “I ended up accepting a scholarship from Wheeling Jesuit University for one year then transferred to West Liberty University for my senior year. I ended my college career scoring more than 1,500 points.”
Williams impressed enough that she had an opportunity after college to play professionally overseas.
“I was gearing up to head to Germany, but that opportunity fell through,” she said. “Shortly after that, 9/11 happened and there was so much unrest in the world that I was worried about leaving the U.S.
“My agent said a team in Turkey wanted me to join them, but I decided I didn’t feel comfortable relocating there and ultimately decided to end my basketball career. “
She graduated from Lakeland with an associate of arts degree.
At West Liberty, she red-shirted her first year and finished her basketball career/education as a fifth-year senior with a bachelor of science in communications.
Williams worked for a year and a half as a Respiratory Care coordinator for Seeley Medical.
Then, she started working in the corrugated industry at Smurfit-Stone in Jefferson.
“I took a job in the shipping department only because the hours were great and I fully planned on going back to college to get a Master’s in Education,” Williams said. “But life took me in a different direction. I ended up getting married, having children and staying in the corrugated industry. I am now a project manager in the customer service department at International Paper in Madison where I’ve been employed for 16 years.”
She has been divorced for 12 years, and has two sons, Brady 16 and Colt 12.
“They are the light of my life,” Williams said. “I am currently engaged to my fiancé, Adam Jordan. We have been together for more than three years.
“He’s a former Geneva High School graduate and standout football player/track himself. We actually connected on Facebook. He asked me out on a date and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
“I no longer play sports, but enjoy lifting weights. I feel like I had my time playing in my younger years and I try to make myself available to my boys and their interests. I really don’t have any hobbies; my children get the majority of any free time I have.”
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“I started playing basketball for two reasons,” said Williams, a 1995 Jefferson graduate who will be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame April 12. “The first was that my dad [Ed] was my hero and his favorite sport was basketball. I heard many stories about his glory days and thought this would be something we could share, bond over and enjoy together.
“The second reason was I was fortunate enough to have grandparents that took a real interest in me and talked to me often about the importance of finances and getting an education. Both lived through the depression and I was told often to take care of my money, save it and stay out of debt. Neither my grandma or grandfather were able to complete high school and felt they could have been much more successful if they had access to an education.
“So I thought ‘How can I get a college education without going into debt?’ I knew I didn’t have the dedication to apply myself academically, but did have the drive to get an athletic scholarship. I decided around the age of 13 or 14 that this would be the way I would achieve that goal. That’s when I decided to take basketball seriously. It wasn’t just about becoming a great athlete, but it was a tool to becoming a successful, independent woman that could stand on her own two feet.”
But the game became more than that to her, as she now realizes.
“The truth is, basketball wasn’t just a game to me, it was my first love that turned into an obsession,” she said. “I faced many obstacles trying to achieve my goals, had a lot of good times, disappointments and heartbreak along the way because I was so invested.
“However, now, as an adult looking back, I realize just how blessed I was to have so many people that loved me and supported me on my journey. My dad, Ed Williams, and grandparents, Dalton and Opal Williams, were at nearly every game from junior high through college [even the games I played in West Virginia]. My siblings, Aunt Sheila and Uncle Ron, my cousins and friends, showed up to support me often. I am so thankful that I had so many people cheering me on throughout my career. I really felt so loved.”
Williams began her basketball journey with her first real opportunity — in the seventh grade.
Larry Meloro, her vice principal in high school, was her first coach.
When she got to her freshman year, Williams came under the tutelage of Gary Thaxton.
“I had worked really hard on my game the summer before my freshman year and he recognized this in me and was the first coach to see that I had talent,” she said. “I really enjoyed playing for him.
“He was the first coach to believe in me and treated me with great respect. He made the game fun, no pressure and I appreciated that along with his confidence in my ability.”
At 5’8”, Williams played point guard, shooting guard and small forward for the Falcons.
“I stopped growing my junior year,” she said. “My teammates to note were my two best friends, Laura [Talcott] Grippi and Kiki McNair. The three of us were very close my junior and senior year. I pretty much had the same teammates from my sophomore year on with the exception of Stacy Allen transferring in from PV my senior year. She was a fantastic addition to our team.”
At the time, the Falcons were coached by Hall of Famer Rod Holmes, who became the winningest basketball coach in Ashtabula County, male or female.
“He and I had our ups and downs through the years, but the one thing I appreciated about him most was that he never screamed and yelled or belittled his players or threw a fit if we missed a shot or made a turnover,” Williams said. “He always just let us play through the mistakes without making an issue of it. I grew to appreciate this more from him as I continued my career on throughout college as I found most coaches weren’t as laid-back as coach Holmes.”
Williams doesn’t remember the Falcons’ records from that year, but knows they were Northeastern Conference champions in her junior and senior years.
She believes Jefferson shared the title with its chief rival, Madison, one of those seasons.
Williams recalls three games in particular, beginning with the last regular-season game in her junior year.
“We needed to win against Ashtabula to clinch the conference title,” she said. “I got fouled with barely any time on the clock and had to hit free throws to win. I made both.”
The second game was her senior year against Saint John.
“I scored 21 points in the first half and didn’t score a point the second half,” Williams said. “Not because the opportunity wasn’t there, but I really wanted my teammates to score and feel good about themselves also.
“I tried getting Kiki and Laura the ball as much as possible. I’m proud of myself for that … I feel like that says a lot about my character, that I could have had a standout game worrying about my own accolades but instead focused on my teammates.
“At the end of the game, the coach from St. John came up to me and said, ‘You have my vote.’ I’m assuming that meant for player of the year or first team all-conference, but it made me feel good that he recognized that in me.”
The final game she singles out also came in her senior year, this time against Madison.
“I played great and played so hard that I was too exhausted to stand when it was over,” Williams said. “College coaches had come to scout, most likely myself and [Madison’s] Sonja Brainard, and at halftime the scouts were asking around in the stands if anyone knew who my parents were so they could talk to me after the game. It was a great feeling.”
Among the awards Williams received at Jefferson were Player of the Week twice, first-team all-county and All-NEC her junior and senior years and MVP of the NEC-ESC game.
Williams believes she scored between 750 and 800 points at Jefferson.
“I do know at the time I graduated I was eighth on the all-time scoring list at Jefferson,” she said. “I’m certain I’ve dropped a few spots since then.”
In addition to basketball, Williams played softball her freshman and sophomore years, before switching to track in the hopes of improving her vertical jump height to help with basketball.
Williams definitely wanted to go to college. She had interest from several Division III schools.
“But that wasn’t an option since they didn’t offer full athletic scholarships,” she said. “I also felt I was good enough to play at a higher level.
“I was heavily recruited by Mercyhurst and Lakeland after high school. I ended up choosing Lakeland since they offered immediate playing time and paid for everything except books.”
That made Lakeland an easy choice for her.
“My freshman year I was a part-time starter/sixth man,” Williams said. “My sophomore year I was a starter. It was a great decision for me.”
When Williams finished her two years at Lakeland, she found herself with more options to continue playing basketball.
“I was recruited by one very large Division I school, a couple MAC [Mid-American Conference] schools and several Division II schools,” she said. “I ended up accepting a scholarship from Wheeling Jesuit University for one year then transferred to West Liberty University for my senior year. I ended my college career scoring more than 1,500 points.”
Williams impressed enough that she had an opportunity after college to play professionally overseas.
“I was gearing up to head to Germany, but that opportunity fell through,” she said. “Shortly after that, 9/11 happened and there was so much unrest in the world that I was worried about leaving the U.S.
“My agent said a team in Turkey wanted me to join them, but I decided I didn’t feel comfortable relocating there and ultimately decided to end my basketball career. “
She graduated from Lakeland with an associate of arts degree.
At West Liberty, she red-shirted her first year and finished her basketball career/education as a fifth-year senior with a bachelor of science in communications.
Williams worked for a year and a half as a Respiratory Care coordinator for Seeley Medical.
Then, she started working in the corrugated industry at Smurfit-Stone in Jefferson.
“I took a job in the shipping department only because the hours were great and I fully planned on going back to college to get a Master’s in Education,” Williams said. “But life took me in a different direction. I ended up getting married, having children and staying in the corrugated industry. I am now a project manager in the customer service department at International Paper in Madison where I’ve been employed for 16 years.”
She has been divorced for 12 years, and has two sons, Brady 16 and Colt 12.
“They are the light of my life,” Williams said. “I am currently engaged to my fiancé, Adam Jordan. We have been together for more than three years.
“He’s a former Geneva High School graduate and standout football player/track himself. We actually connected on Facebook. He asked me out on a date and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
“I no longer play sports, but enjoy lifting weights. I feel like I had my time playing in my younger years and I try to make myself available to my boys and their interests. I really don’t have any hobbies; my children get the majority of any free time I have.”
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