Perhaps this is the final spin in Rashard Williams’ pirouette.

Perhaps his ordeal is coming to an end, and Williams has finally figured out what he wants.

Perhaps, more importantly, he has discovered what he needs.

On Tuesday, Williams enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College, the first step he has taken in returning to the Syracuse football team since the school academically suspended him in January. With 12 passing credits, Williams hopes he can return to SU by the spring semester, or by the summer at the latest. And he hopes to rejoin the football team – the one he left, rejoined, then left again – by next season.

‘I feel regretful,’ Williams said. ‘I haven’t really had my head on my shoulders like I should. I haven’t had a clear mind of what I should be doing for a while.’

Last season, Williams proved himself a reliable receiver. He caught 23 balls for 240 yards and one touchdown in 10 games.

But in nine months away from Syracuse, Williams was living at home in Miami. He worked out daily and visited his sick grandmother. He also helped with a Pop Warner football team.

Williams practiced once with Florida A&M this preseason, as he debated enrolling there. Ultimately, he decided against it.

‘I have to get out on the field,’ Williams said. ‘I think that within a week of getting back on the team, I’ll be able to get back in the swing of things. It won’t be hard. It won’t take me too long.’

Tim Neal, Williams’ coach at Coral Gables Senior High School, also tried enrolling Williams at Louisiana-Lafayette and Florida Atlantic. Neither school had open spots. Williams wasn’t interested anyway.

In the meantime, Williams keeps close contacts with SU.

He talked to wide receiver Andre Fontenette before each of SU’s first two games. He and safety Anthony Smith talk frequently. Director of Football Operations Reggie Terry and running backs coach David Walker have spoken with Williams as well.

‘I think I deserve another shot,’ Williams said. ‘It wasn’t like I wasn’t trying to do well or quit the football team. I wanted to be there. And I still do.’

Head coach Paul Pasqualoni said he hadn’t talked to Williams yet. But he indicated SU hopes Williams returns.

‘As I understand it, there are issues on the table and criteria that Rashard must meet,’ Pasqualoni said, ‘and then he’ll be able to return to SU. We have no problem having him back.’

Williams says that criterion is only passing 12 credits. But he declined to enroll in school until Tuesday.

‘I was just too upset for a while,’ Williams said. ‘I just didn’t feel like doing anything because I was so upset about dropping out. It was a revolt thing.’

Williams decided to stay stagnant. For the first time since going to college, he was motionless.

While at SU, Williams was spinning. Issues at home both pushed Williams to Syracuse and pulled him home. He rocked back and forth and ended up nowhere.

Those issues included his grandmother becoming ill (she still is), a new football system, new coaches and a new campus. It ultimately led to his dropping out after the first semester of his sophomore year.

But hints of problems surfaced early to Neal.

‘I asked him as he was making a decision on where to commit to, ‘Do you think you can handle this?” Neal said. ”Can you handle going this far away?’ I know he’s very close with his family and part of a close-knit community.’

Williams’ father died when the wide receiver was 14. His two brothers are incarcerated.

‘I was going to a great D-I school,’ Williams said. ‘I was going to a great academic school. So even if the NFL didn’t work out for me, I could get a good job.’

By his fourth day as a freshman, Williams started feeling out of place. He called Neal and told him he wanted to return home.

‘You know how freshmen are treated,’ Neal says. ‘I figured in two or three weeks, he’d be fine.’

Williams called Neal – whom Williams calls ‘my father’ – up to five times a week. He finally left during the preseason last year, citing homesickness. When he returned to school before SU’s 38-14 win over Central Florida on Sept. 20, Williams spoke to the team and apologized.

‘After that, I thought he was good,’ Neal said. ‘I’d hear from him maybe once a week or so. But I figured he was good.’

Ultimately, though, Williams failed to reach the minimum grade-point average his major required. He dropped out, sat for nine months and just took his first step toward returning.

‘I miss the game,’ Williams said. ‘I miss running over the middle and grabbing a ball. I miss yelling after making a big catch. I miss it all. I want to get back.’

Published on September 14, 2004 at 12:00 pm