Booker sophomore finds success after tragedy

Booker High sophomore Johnnie Williams IV was forced to be his own father at age 8.

He was in his grandmother Margaret Jackson’s house on Sept. 8, 2008, walking from the living room to the kitchen, when she reluctantly gave him the news. His father, Johnnie Williams III, had been shot dead.

Detectives at the time said a 17-year-old had approached Williams III while he was on his cousins’ porch and asked about a necklace. A tussle ensued, and the 17-year-old pulled a gun. Williams III was 31 years old.

“I didn’t take the news that seriously at the time,” Williams IV said. “I just thought he was going away for while, but would come back. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized he wasn’t coming back, and it started to really hurt.

“It still does.”

Williams IV now lives with Jackson, his mother, Tangala Dawson, and his 5-year-old brother, Austin Guidry. He has been forced to grow up quicker than years usually allow. That includes taking care of Guidry. He knows how hard it is to be young and without a father, and he has pledged to be that figure for his “baby bro.”

Williams IV admits that he tries to always appear like he is doing fine in front of his Booker basketball teammates and coaches, but he still feels the stinging loss, especially after games.

“There’s no one to tell me ‘good job’ or even what I did wrong,” Williams IV said.

No one can reverse what happened, but Williams IV has a chance to escape his memories on the basketball court, where he is thriving. The 6-foot-3 sophomore is already rated a two-star prospect by Verbal Commits, and has a scholarship offer from Division I Southeastern Louisiana. He got a text message about the offer while at a friend’s house, and was shocked, feeling like it “came out of nowhere.”

Williams IV said getting to attend college for free while playing basketball would be a dream come true. All he wants to do is make people happy, he said, and bringing home success would make his family very happy.

He can expect to get more offers after his play this season. Williams IV is lighting up both ends of the floor, playing forward out of necessity even though he feels most comfortable at guard. He’s shown the ability to score from the outside and inside, but said his priority is actually defense. He is the team’s premier shot-blocker, and disrupts a lot of the shots he does not block. Against North Port on Dec. 29, he posted a triple-double of 14 points, 11 blocks and 10 rebounds. In Booker’s game against Southeast on Jan. 30, he had 18 points and a massive block late in the game, almost palming the ball out of his opponent’s hands, to prevent Southeast from sniffing a possible comeback. His through-the-legs dunk at the buzzer was the exclamation mark on an 81-73 victory.

He’s big on dunking: His favorite basketball memory, he said, was his first-ever dunk, in a junior varsity game against Cardinal Mooney last year. He took a Euro step left and slammed it home. Everyone went crazy, he said, including himself. That is no surprise. Williams IV is an emotional player, getting visibly fired up when his team needs a spark.

Despite rarely talking about the past, he displays his remembrance of his father publicly. First-year Booker coach Markus Black said Williams IV started out wearing No. 23, but decided to switch to No. 11, the same number his dad wore when he attended Booker.

That way, whatever future success Williams IV finds, he will always carry his dad in his heart, and on his back.