HAMPTON, Va. — So what do you give a man who has meant and given so much to the community he grew up in? It's hard, but the city of Hampton did it up big Thursday night. It was for a person who's not just known to Hampton Roads or nationally, but internationally.
Marcellus Spencer Williams, who everyone around the 757 calls "Boo", was celebrated by his alma mater Phoebus High School where it all started. Williams, who was a part of the first graduating class of the Phantoms in 1977, had a special honor at the very place he was a former hoops standout.
The city and the school thought it was fitting, the man who coached the likes of Basketball Hall Of Famer Allen Iverson, Joe Smith, Elizabeth Williams and "Sugar" Rodgers, had the gym and court dedicated in his name.
For Williams, it felt like going full circle.
"It's nice coming back home. This is where the journey started", he said. "The kids, the cheerleaders out there and the players. I'm mean that's really mind boggling".
Troy Williams, Boo's nephew, played for his uncle and then collegiately at Indiana. He'd go on to play parts of two seasons in the NBA with Memphis, Houston, New York and Sacramento and says his uncle is honored.
"This is huge. He's done a lot of things in his life, his career. It just speaks for itself", he says. "Having a gym he grew up in to be named after him. I mean it's hard to put into words, it's an immaculate feeling for him".
Williams noted that the Boo Williams name still carries weight wherever he's traveled.
"I still hear his name even when I'm overseas. People asking me about him and everything else. I mean his name still holds statue for sure."
Williams savors days like this. "You're in the moment now and you live life to the moment."