After Alan Williams completed his college basketball career withthe Wake Forest Demon Deacons – a walk-on’s career that was lessthan modest – he decided to share his story.

He authored a book, “Walk On: Life From the End of the Bench,”that told the story of his not-so-stellar days on the hardwood,where he averaged just 10 points per season, accumulated 59 minutesof playing time in four years and was cut from the team twice.

“I wrote the book hoping that it would give people something torelate to,” Williams said. “After it was published, a lot of peopleasked me to come speak about it. As I told my story, I began tohear other people’s stories. A lot more people can relate to myexperiences than to the superstars’. There’s a lot more of me outthere than there are Peyton Mannings or Tiger Woodses.”

Williams, now 26, founded Teammates First, an organization thatpromotes team structure over individual achievements. He mixes hisstory with a heavy helping of the Christian faith to promote teamwork and character in “a society that has lost the teameffort.”

On Wednesday morning, Williams arrived at Brookhaven Academy toshare his message. With the entire student body gathered before himin the gymnasium, Williams stressed the importance of humility andselflessness. He began by recounting an experience when a studentgave a presentation on him, rather than him giving a presentationto the students.

“A mother wrote to me and said that her son was going to be mefor a presentation at school,” Williams told the academy. “Icouldn’t imagine why. I thought, ‘What for? I never did anything.’He pretended to be me, and this is what he said:

“‘Hi, my name is Alan Williams. I played basketball for theUniversity of Wake Forest. I was the worst player on my team. Icould not jump very high, but I had a big heart.'”

Williams carries a copy of that student’s work with him to everyspeaking engagement. “Big heart” is the crux of his message.

“The reason I kept coming back was not because I wanted to siton a bench,” he told the students. “I kept coming back because Iwanted to be part of a team.

“To this day, I don’t remember all of the games we played,”Williams continued. “I don’t remember the scores, the stats or theplays we ran. What I remember are my teammates; getting to put myhand in the huddle. I remember the relationships that continue tobe meaningful to this day.”

To further his points, Williams quoted the Irish author andscholar C.S. Lewis: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, buttrue humility is thinking of yourself less.” He also quoted Matthew20:28, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but toserve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Williams conveys this message to schools and churches across thecountry, to students of all nature, but he most enjoys reachingyoung athletes and their parents.

“There’s a lot of pressures that are put on kids in sports atdifferent levels,” he said. “It can affect the social developmentof a child in a big way. I hope for all parents and athletes totake a step back and ask, ‘What does it mean to be ateammate?'”

Dr. Miller Hammill, the headmaster at Brookhaven Academy, wasquite pleased with Williams’ message.

“It was a very outstanding presentation,” he said. “He deliversa very practical message, incorporating the real issues of life inwith the Christian faith.”

Williams’ practical message was not lost on Steven Watts, an18-year-old senior at the academy.

“He’s a real good speaker,” Watts said. “And what he had to sayrelated to a lot of people here.”