By JASON KETZ
Sports Editor

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Being born more than 6,000 miles from Warrensburg, Williams Otor “Gabe” Gabriel is taking advantage of opportunities that he couldn’t have imagined in his hometown of Lagos, Nigeria.

PHOTO BY BRANDON BOWMAN / PHOTO EDITOR
Junior forward Williams Gabriel posts up on his
Emporia State counterpart en route to a 61-51 win on
Jan. 30. Williams contributed a season-high four blocks.

As a young boy, Gabriel played many sports, including soccer, when one day a man approached him about an opportunity that he had never given thought to.

“It all started a couple of years ago when I was playing soccer, but someone introduced me to basketball because he saw that I was tall,” Gabriel said.

He later became more involved with learning the game by going to several basketball camps, and that’s when basketball would give him the opportunity of a lifetime.

“I was at a camp in Nigeria where a coach from Washington D.C. saw me play and really liked what he saw and wanted me to come to the United States to play for him,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel then tried to apply for a visa and was denied because he was too young. That didn’t discourage him as he kept going to basketball camps where a basketball coach from Huntington Prep in West Virginia noticed him and offered him a scholarship.

“It was a great opportunity for me to play at Huntington Prep,” Gabriel said. “I got to play with big time players like (Andrew Wiggins-the former Kansas standout and the 2014 No. 1 overall draft pick in the NBA draft), and we won a lot, so it was a great accomplishment.”

During his three seasons at Huntington Prep from 2010 through 2013, the team went 83-8, which helped Gabriel become the winningest player in program history. During his senior season, Gabriel was able to help the team reach the No.1 ranking in the country and was a McDonalds All- American nominee.

“It was a great experience for myself and four of my teammates to be nominated for the McDonalds All-American team,” Gabriel said.

After graduation, Williams received a scholarship from Division I University of New Hampshire in Durham.

“It was easy for me when I went to New Hampshire because at Huntington Prep I had already been exposed to basketball competition similar to college,” Gabriel said.

As a member of the Wildcats, Gabriel played a total of 45 games in his two seasons making 13 starts. During his freshman year, he made strides but a concussion early in his sophomore season sidelined Gabriel for an extended amount of time.

“I thought I played well my freshman year,” Gabriel said. “But my sophomore season, I started the first three games and suffered a concussion and when I came back to the team, the coach told me to stick with it to get into the mix.”

Gabriel didn’t get to play as much as he wanted, so he decided to transfer somewhere that made him feel like he was at home.

“When I came down here to UCM, I liked the atmosphere, and I would be only an hour and a half away from my high school coach who is an assistant coach in Columbia right now.”

Former Huntington Prep head coach Rob Fulford accepted a position on former Mules head coach Kim Anderson’s staff in 2014.

“Coach (Fulford) told me that if I came to UCM it would be a great opportunity for me and I would be close to him, which helped me feel like I have a family close to me like back in Huntington because I don’t have any immediate family here in the U.S.,” Williams said.

Mules head coach Doug Karleskint said one thing that really stood out when the university was recruiting Williams, was his high character.

“You knew you were getting a kid that brought it every single day at practice,” Karleskint said.

Heading into this season, only four players returned from last season and with all the new faces it meant getting to meet and play with new teammates.

“He brings a lot of physicality,” Junior guard Kyle Wolf said. “He’s going to block a lot of shots and change a lot of people’s shots at the rim plus he works hard to get tough rebounds.”

On the basketball court, Gabriel has played in 14 games for the Mules and has been used primarily for his interior defensive abilities where he has averaged more than one rebound per game and just shy of one block per game.

“Whenever he has stepped onto the floor for us this year, he has been productive,” Karleskint said. “He may be limited in some ways, but he makes up for it with his effort and how hard he plays.”

With a season-ending injury to Wolf, the Mules will need Gabriel to step into the rotation and make an impact as the team has just eight regular season games left on the schedule before the MIAA tournament starting March 1.