PLATTSBURGH -- If there ever was a time Anthony Williams would have given up, it was at age 17, when his mother died from breast cancer.

"At no other time had I thought twice about giving up," said Williams, a Plattsburgh State senior and basketball guard who is SUNYAC Player of the Year.

"I didn't fall under adversity during that time. I would never let nothing keep me from overcoming anything for the rest of my life."

After he graduates in May, Williams hopes to make the roster of an overseas professional basketball team. If not, he will pursue a master's degree. A history major, he aspires to be a social-studies teacher or a school counselor.

His must-do list includes becoming a varsity basketball coach. One day, he hopes to coach his son, Anthony Jr., whom he describes as a "burst of energy."

"He means the world to me. He and my siblings are my motivation."

TOUGH START

Williams grew up in Brooklyn, the oldest of four. His siblings are Edwin, 21; Jessica, 18; and Charles, 16.

Their mother, Barbara, was the daughter of Ruby and Ernest Williams. Ruby was a maintenance worker for years for the New York City Housing Authority. In the last years of her life, Barbara also worked there.

"My mother and grandmother did their best. My grandmother is the backbone of my family to this day."

William Ubiles, father to all but Charles, was incarcerated when Williams was born.

His parents eventually split. It was hard for his mother raising four children on public assistance and harder still while battling breast cancer, which runs in her family.

MOM'S LAST WORDS

Williams was competing in a Christmas basketball tournament when his mother, 37, was hospitalized in Manhattan. A junior at Paul Robeson High School, he was trying to get back to her.

"My grandmother and them told me she wanted to speak to me. Her last words to them was for me to take care of my brothers and sisters. I was 17."