Although many students are focusing on college basketball at the moment, the Harding football team is looking ahead to next season, having recently signed junior safety Ashtun Williams.
“We have been sending coaches to California to recruit and we’ve developed some good relationships with schools there, and we had this opportunity to sign him,” Harding Head Football Coach Ron Huckeba said.
Williams comes from Rialto, Calif., where he played for Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. The Harding coaching staff selected Williams not only because of his outstanding playing abilities and statistics but also because of his character. After meeting Williams in California and watching his films, the coaches flew him down to Searcy for an official visit.
“He is a high-character person and we feel that he fits in well with the other guys,” Huckeba said. “Plus he’s a very good player; we really like the way he plays the game.”
Williams said he chose Harding for many reasons.
“Coach [Paul] Simmons was a great coach and he welcomed me in with some really big open arms,” Williams said. “All the guys are really passionate about the game and I like that, and when I visited campus it just felt like a home away from home.”
The team typically signs one to two junior college players every December during the NCAA mid-year junior college transfer period.
“We like to redshirt a lot of freshmen, and then the seniors graduate, and there can be kind of a space between there that we can fill with an incoming junior,” Huckeba said.
Since Williams had two years under his belt at Mt. San Antonio College, he had to choose a school to transfer to in order to continue his college education.
According to Huckeba, Williams had several other offers and Huckeba said he considers Harding fortunate that Williams decided to sign with the Bisons.
“The junior college he played at is really different than many schools,” Huckeba said. “California has its own junior college football league with hundreds of schools and he is one of the best players on his school’s team.”
In the 13 games that Williams played, he had 47 tackles and three interceptions, and returned 19 kickoffs with a 26.2-yard average.
Nonetheless, Huckeba expects Williams to earn his playing time come football season, and Williams said he will work hard to stay up to the coaches’ expectations.
“My goal individually is to produce as expected; I never want to let the team down,” Williams said.
Huckeba is excited to see what the new safety will do.
“He’ll have a chance to have a big roll on the team, but he’ll have to earn it just like every other player,” Huckeba said.
Williams has no doubt the team can work its way to the top.
“I’d like to see the team win a conference championship. I’m always hoping to do big things,” Williams said.
Since Williams’ signing, the Bisons have added four more junior college tranfers: Jeremy Carson, Ryan DuBois, Josh Gallington and Lonnie Parish. You can find out more on www.hardingsports.com.
