Recruiting Report: Jalonnie Williams (Greenfield-2021)

Coming from the Northside of Milwaukee you’re going to need a lot more grit and tenacity to get yourself where you want to go than a lot of other places, and luckily Greenfield’s 6’5, 275 lb. hybrid defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="30739" first="Jalonnie" last="Williams"] has those character traits in abundance. The Milwaukee native really only began his prep career two years ago during the fall of his sophomore year, and boy is Greenfield glad he did. He’s since gone on to become a 2x All-Conference honoree, Defensive Lineman of the Year, and last year recorded an impressive 10 sacks in nine games from the DL position. PrepRedzoneWI wasn’t the only one to take notice, and earlier this spring Williams’ hard work began to pay off when he was awarded a scholarship to D1 Central Michigan University - the home of former Appleton East grad Riley John & Valders’ Luke Goedeke - and in the coming month also earned Minnesota State-Mankato and Southwest Minnesota State offers of the DII Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. With so much upside to Williams’ game, PRzWI was stoked when he agreed to answer a few questions for this D1 Wisconsin edition "Recruiting Report." Check out what the rising senior had to say about how he began to play football again in high school, how Greenfield has performed since he’s been on the team, and how the recruiting process has gone and what it was like to receive that first Division 1 offer. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/11429647/5dacd1cbf31dc813b8781821">Junior Year</a> PrepRedzoneWI: Hello and thank you for your time, Jalonnie. Please begin by telling us a little bit about yourself and where you’re from. When did you begin playing football? What do you love about the game? Williams: "My name is [player_tooltip player_id="30739" first="Jalonnie" last="Williams"], I grew up on the Northside of Milwaukee, the worst of the worst. I started playing football at the age of 6 but then stopped at 8, so that’s why I say that I’ve only been playing football since my sophomore year, that was the first year I played really seriously. I like playing football because it’s a beautiful game, most people don’t understand what really goes into playing the game and they think it’s just all about boys running around touching each other, but the details of the game, the fact that I can go and hit someone and not get in trouble for it, also the team aspect of it. In other sports one guy can carry a team real far, in football, you can’t play 1 against 11 and still hope to win, it just wont work." PRzWI: What are you measurements and what position do you play primarily? Williams: "I’m a 6’5.5" 275lb hyrbid dlineman, I can play strong or weak side end and tackle, or even nose." PRzWI: How was your sophomore season at Greenfield in 2018? What was the team as well as your season like? Williams: "As I said earlier, sophomore season was my first year playing football since I was 8 so I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, I only had played because one of my close friends and teammates Skyler Gill-Howard, a very good linebacker by the way, begged me to. That season we didn’t really do too hot, at all, we went 4-5 I believe and didn’t make the playoffs, but we also were plagued with injuries, our starting quarterback hurt his knee week 4 and was out almost the rest of the season and it was just downhill from there. For me though, the season was pretty good, I finished with 25 tackles and 7 sacks in 9 games, I received a unanimous all conference medal and defensive lineman of the year." PRzWI: What were expectations like going into the 2019 season? What did you do in the offseason to work on your game? Williams: "Going into the season this past year, expectations were really high, we were expected to go 8-0 and dominate the conference. For most of the summer almost my entire team all had other things going and I’ll be honest, so did I, I played AAU basketball because I didn’t really understand how serious I needed to take everything, the last month of summer before our first game well killed it though, practices were great, camps were great, workouts were amazing, but it all fell threw." PRzWI: What do you love about the Greenfield football program? Williams: "I love the program though because it’s not only about football, at Greenfield they make sure you are a student, then an athlete, and the coaches are great with relationships and are very passionate about the game." PRzWI: Now tell us about the 2019 season. Who did you play? How did they go? Williams: "The first 2 regular season games didn’t go too hot, we played against Martin Luther, and then state dominator New Berlin Eisenhower. The first game against ML, we simply as a team just weren’t prepared, the effort was there, the passion was there, but we didn’t prep enough and the game didn’t end well, it ended as a 35-21 loss. That following week in practice is where my season changed, we were doing team offense and I was on as a scout dlineman in order to give a good look. I jumped for a ball to catch a interception and my teammate pushed me out of mid air and I landed awkwardly and I ended up hurting my knee pretty bad and stretching my IT band. The next game we got blown out by Ike because again, we weren’t prepared. After that we won the next 2 games versus Milwaukee Lutheran and Brown Deer, but our starting running back and MLB tore his ACL on his was to his 3rd touchdown on the 1st half. After those 2 games, the season kind of was a toss up and we ended 4-4 and missed the playoffs again." PRzWI: Jeez that’s a lot of injuries. How was your season personally? Williams: "For me, the season ended even better, I finished with 40 tackles and 10 sacks in 7 games and received an unanimous all conference medal again." PRzWI: Now let’s talk recruiting? How has the process been for you and when did it really begin? If you could get into some details about how the CMU offer happened that’d be great. What did it feel like? How did it happen? Williams: "The recruiting process, it’s definitely something, but it recently started for me. My first contact with a college was in late January and I was brand new with it. It was really surprising and honestly I was honored. When I got the CMU offer I cried, it was life changing, I grew up less fortunate, and the offer gave me hope on a better future for my family, it was deeper than football, when he I called and he said the words on facetime and I could see that his face was dead serious I immediately teared up." PRzWI: How did the NSIC offers come about? Now that you have a few options on the table, what are you looking for in a potential college? Additionally, what are some schools you’re interested in that you’re still looking to connect with? Lastly, what are you going to focus on in the process going forward? Williams: "The D2 offers came a while after that, SMSU was just recent and so was Mankato. Mankato is really intriguing if being honest, I know a few people who went there and I always look into how people think colleges are, and Mankato was really good, but so was CMU, which is really interesting for me right now. I would want to play for a football team who of course is on the radar, but also a school that prioritizes being a student also. I love school and I take pride in my education, so being at a school with both would really be perfect for me. A school I would really love to play at and that I’ve always wanted to go to was Iowa State, I love the atmosphere and location and everything about it. From this point on, my main focus is contacting as many schools as I can, and getting my film around, just to try and get my name out there more." This won’t be the last you hear from Jalonnie. Stay updated with your most comprehensive prep football recruiting site in the nation: PrepRedzone. Thanks for reading and go Hawks!