2003 Top 50 List: No
Dan Collins List: No
Charlie Scott was the best player in the class of 1970. Vann Williford was the second best. A two-time first team All-ACC selection, Williford received significant support for ACC Player of the Year in 1970, finishing behind Scott and John Roche. He was also named MVP of the ACC Tournament – an exciting tournament won by NC State in a double overtime final over South Carolina.
The Wolfpack then advanced to the NCAA Tournament to take on Bob Lanier and third-ranked St. Bonaventure. Williford had 35 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort. The Bonnies went on to the Final Four. Williford’s last college game was the regional third place game. He had 36 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Calvin Murphy and #17 Niagara.
Looking back at that 1970 ACC Tournament, Williford’s performance really stands out. I did a quick study of ACC Tournament MVPs to see which of them scored the greatest percentage of their team’s points over the course of the tournament. As far as I can tell, only three players have scored 40% or more:
- Lennie Rosenbluth, 1957: scored 106 out of 237, 44.7%
- Randolph Childress, 1995: scored 107 out of 246, 43.5%
- Vann Williford, 1970: scored 73 out of 176, 41.4%
Next in line are Albert King, 1980 (37.9%), James Forrest in 1993 (37.3%), Len Chappell in 1962 (35.4%), and Zion Williamson in 2019 (35.1%).
So if you combine the stellar ACC Tournament with the two monster games in the NCAAs, that’s a pretty strong finish to a college career. I wonder if Williford would have received some All-America support if the vote had been held after the season.
Williford was a high school teammate of Carolina’s Rusty Clark at Fayetteville (NC) High School. He was not highly recruited but wound up at NC State in a roundabout way. Pistol Pete Maravich was the son of NC State coach Press Maravich but was unable to make the ACC’s minimum SAT score. As a result, Press and Pete moved on to LSU and left the cupboard somewhat bare for new coach Norm Sloan. Williford had signed with Pfeiffer but was hoping to get an better offer. When he got one from Sloan, he jumped at the chance.
20+ point, 10+ rebound average in a season since 1970:
- Vann Williford, 1970, 23.7/10.0
- Randy Denton, Duke, 1971, 20.4/12.8
- Tom Burleson, NC State, 1972, 21.3/14.0
- Kenny Carr, NC State, 1976, 26.6/10.3
- Rod Griffin, Wake Forest, 1978, 21.5/10.0
- Mike Gminski, Duke, 1978, 20.0/10.0
- Mike Gminski, Duke, 1980, 21.3/10.9
- Joe Smith, Maryland, 1995, 20.8/10.6
- Tim Duncan, Wake Forest, 1997, 20.8/14.7
- Antawn Jamison, UNC, 1998, 22.2/10.5
- Tyler Hansbrough, UNC, 2008, 22.6/10.2
- Marvin Bagley, Duke, 2018, 21.0/11.1
It’s been a hundred years ago, but I once came up with a list of ACC basketball players who were from Sampson County or the surrounding 7 counties. I don’t know why I did it, maybe I was thinking that a certain Hobbton High grad was the best player to come out of this area? But the answer to that question wasn’t Chris King, it was Vann Williford.
An incomplete list of ACC players from that 8-county neighborhood:
NC State–
Chuck Kornegay, Dudley
Roland Whitley, Goldsboro
Dennis Smith, Jr. and Vann Williford, Fayetteville
UNC–
Rusty Clark, Fayetteville
Cecil Exum, Dudley
Lynwood Robinson, Mt. Olive
Travis Stephenson, Angier
Duke–Robert Brickey, Fayetteville
Miami–Jimmy Graham, Goldsboro
Wake Forest–
Scooter Banks, Clinton
Chris King, Newton Grove
Trelonnie Owens, Bladenboro
Anthony Teachey, Goldsboro
Lastly,
Virginia-Anthony Oliver, Faison
The greatest free throw shooter who ever lived.
Who was the best football player, though? Jimmy Graham or Scooter Banks?
I’d bet Banks was better in high school. Always thought he should’ve played football in college. Maybe if he had played just 1 college season (like Graham), he could’ve been in the NFL for 10+ years (like Graham).
But probably not.
And I still say the best football player ever from Sampson County was Dee Hardison.