“Giving back to the game means a lot to me and my only focus now is to ‘Take it Further.’”
On a Fall night in 2021, Alton Williams drew up his vision on a whiteboard. Sitting home with his board on that night, the California man drew up the road map for Fresno Pro-Am, a basketball league that would eventually take the Central Valley’s hoop scene to another level.
Williams was working as a ref at the Clovis Recreation Center when he first came up with the idea for the pro-am league. At that time, while pandemic restrictions were loosening up a bit, the rec center was hosting weekly pickup games.
As he observed hoopers at the rec center who came from various levels, including college and pros, Williams realized that Fresno hoopers between the age of 18 and 35 in particular were underserved when it came to a high level basketball league.
Inspired by this understanding, Williams brought the idea to an administrator at the Clovis Area Rec Center.
“I spoke to one of the staff members that oversaw the program and asked what he thought about calling the existing league a ‘pro-am’. Just change the name. The talent was there and I believed it would elevate the program,’” Williams said. “And they kindly turned down the idea.’”
That’s when Williams went home and laid the foundation for his own league.
“I went home that night and prayed about it and asked myself ‘Can I do it, should I do it?’” And obviously the answer was ‘Yes,'” Williams said. “So I went straight to the drawing boards. The rest is history.”
After bouncing the idea off with his brothers, the former Porterville College basketball star started inviting players to “open runs” on Wednesday evenings.
Cameron Butler was among those who received the invitation. Like many of the hoopers, Butler was itching to get back on the court at that time after being forced to step away due to the pandemic.
Butler played at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, then took part in intramural hoops at Fresno State shortly before COVID paused everything. The Valley hooper returned to the court after he received a group text from Ryan Stanley, who now wears many hats at the Fresno Pro-Am.
Shortly after arriving at the rec center, Butler learned that he would have to bring his A-game if he wants to keep up with the intense competition.
“That’s just what I am and what I love to do,” Butler said. “So I thought it was just nice to finally get some good run in. I was like ‘Oh this place is pretty cool, it’s a quality run, everybody knows what they’re doing … it’s not just us playing just to play, it’s actually like people want to win, so I found enjoyment out of that.”
As the weeks passed by, more players flooded the court. At the same time, the competition continued to intensify.
“It got to a point where like if you lost it was like you were going home. The wait time was like an hour and a half,” Butler said.
Those who didn’t have what it takes to keep up, were left with a sour reputation.
“If you were trash, I didn’t want you on my team,” Darius Limbrick said.
Limbrick was one of those players who didn’t know any of the guys when he first came to rec center. But he made a quick impression after arriving at the venue.
“My experience was amazing. It felt good because I’m not from Fresno, so it was good to get some cardio in with a good group,” Limbrick said. “I remember when me and Alton first met, I was complaining about my teammates not passing the ball during a rec game that he officiated.”
Brandon Burns was another guy who went to the rec center at that time to get back on track with basketball.
“When we first started, people were at different stages of their basketball careers. We had a lot of young guys, we had a lot of old heads and college guys, some guys who’ve played overseas,” Burns said. “You really don’t know who’s gonna show up on a Wednesday, so it made it that much more exciting.”
As for Williams, he has always been around the game in some way. The Fresno Pro-Am commissioner first made a name for himself as a standout hooper at Central High School. He continued to excel at Porterville College then at NAIA’s Montana State University — Northern before prematurely retiring and eventually becoming a basketball official.
“I was at a fork in the road and I needed to choose a path,” Williams said. “I’ve always been around the game, so refereeing was a great way to give back while seeing the game from a different angle. It also helps me stay in shape and helps me keep a relatively good pulse on what’s developing at the amateur level.”
Williams remembers when the rec center was nearly empty in the early days of their runs during the pandemic. But things changed as time went on.
“It grew organically,” Williams said. “I pulled my phone out to document parts of the very first run and when I posted on the Valley Madness account I wrote the caption ‘Shot on iPhone’ for inspiration to anyone looking to start something big — start with what you have. We only needed one court, two hours, and an iPhone”.
Even with the few resources they had, Limbrick said those early days were “legit.”
“We had bracelets, we had to sign contracts … if you get hurt the organizers weren’t liable,” Limbrick said. “And I love how it was so consistent too. It wasn’t just like one week was good, next week guys hit and missed, no, every week was consistent. We had hoopers.”
The competition went to an even higher level when professional videographers like Joseph Manfredi, CAMMIKE and Danny Mabley started bringing their gear to record the runs.
“People started to try and make the highlights and people knew they could do something with the exposure,” Limbrick said.
“Overtime you saw the media presence grow and people wanted to make it to the Valley Madness page each week, whether it’s the highlights or being mentioned or whatever, so I think that also added to the competitiveness as well,” Burns added.
Former Clovis West High school standout Tyus Parrish-Tillman was one of those guys who became a regular on the highlights.
“After Week 1 of the Fresno Pro-Am at Fresno City College, we had an open run and Tyus pulled up. Tyus and [Darius] were on the same team and they were killing it the whole night, no one could take them off the court,” Williams said.
Although the Season 1 teams at the Fresno Pro-Am already had their rosters locked in, Darius was willing to do whatever it takes to get the high school star on his squad to compete for the championship.
“Dary told me ‘I like this kid right here. I know the rosters are locked, I need him on my team.’ Dary goes to talk to Tyus’ parents who were in attendance that night and a few days later he became the youngest player to play in the Fresno Pro-Am,” Williams said.
Starting from the early days at the rec center, Williams took pride in seeing how the games make a difference in the lives of everyone involved. Still, he has much more planned for the days ahead.
“Giving back to the game means a lot to me and my only focus now is to ‘Take it Further,’” Williams said.
