Nigel Williams-Goss always had a burning desire and work ethic to be one of the country's best basketball players.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
Williams-Goss was active in all sports growing up in Portland — baseball, hockey, and taekwondo — but basketball was his first love.
His older brother Andre Goss, now 25 and in the military, played the game and Williams-Goss immediately gravitated to it.
"Since I was 3 or 4 I was in a gym," he said. "I did the other sports, but basketball was in my blood. My skill level was pretty high for a kid that age. We're a religious Christian family and I could tell God gave me a gift. I just wanted to maximize it."
As a 13-year-old, Nigel Williams-
Goss played in under-17 AAU
tournaments.
Courtesy photo from Williams-Goss family
His father Virgil Williams, who played with Oregon State and Lakers great A.C. Green in high school, made sure his son had every opportunity. He got Nigel into AAU ball by the time he was 8 and had him always competing against older kids.
His mom Valerie Williams-Goss, a licensed therapist, made sure Nigel was taking nothing but advanced classes in school. Though a bodybuilder herself who ran track and played basketball in high school, academics and discipline were her masters.
Not that she had to push Nigel that hard. He had a perfectionist gene and expected great things from himself through hard work, repetition and practice.
"He was so focused at such a young age," Valerie said. "It definitely set him apart which is a blessing. What we kept an eye on was his balance and him connecting with other kids."
He connected not only on the basketball court, but through leadership. He worked at homeless shelters and food banks and delivered meals on wheels.
"I think that's where he gives his gift of sharing and giving," she said.
That translated well on the basketball court as a point guard. Though he scored points in bushels in youth leagues, when he played against older kids, Nigel learned how to distribute.
More than the points and assists, he was attracted to and desired work. Even as a sixth grader, he worked out with his dad before school. The combination of it all just put Nigel into an entirely different league, on and off the court.
He got straight A's — he's never been given a B — he learned to speak Mandarin by the fifth grade and he took nothing but honors courses.
"I think my parents taught me to be a little different," he said. "They didn't want me to be the stereotypical athlete. I didn't want to either."
Ball-handling, passing and leading
have always been at the top of
Nigel Williams-Goss' game.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
The summer heading into the eighth grade, former Findlay Prep coach Michael Peck noticed Williams-Goss at a Las Vegas AAU Tournament, playing for an under-17 team.
It didn't take much investigating – or scouting – to realize he was a special talent.
"He was something of an AAU legend up in that region," Simon said. "You could see why."
A contact was made, Williams-Goss was offered a scholarship and the ball began to roll. He watched the Pilots on TV win a mythical national title with Bradley as the catalyst. The school that housed Findlay Prep players — the Henderson International School — was considered prestigious.
So Williams-Goss presented the idea to his family and remarkably, they considered.
"There was no way they were going to let me go down there myself," he said. "I was only 14. They weren't going to let someone else raise me. We're a close-knit family. It was a family decision. We spent one summer hashing through the pros and cons."
Said Valerie: "At first, it didn't seem feasible, but the more Nigel explained, the more we had to respect where he was coming from. Where we were at in Portland, he was scoring 40 points every game. If he was going to get better – to be the best – he needed a place that would push him to his limits. If he was gifted in dance or art and he had the chance to go to Juilliard would we deny him?
"I think once I was assured he could take honors classes there, we were then all in agreement."
The timing was impeccable for the family. Virgil, in a crashing mortgage business, was looking for a change. Valerie could keep her thriving practice in Portland and start another in the greater Las Vegas area.
The family could sell their home, keep a home owned by Valerie's mother, and relocate 1,000 miles southeast to a more affordable region in Nevada.
The final test, however, was if Nigel felt at home at Findlay Prep.
