“Stokes was interesting because he was really such a huge defensive presence,” Helfer said. “Josh doesn’t have the same type of body as Stokes, he is much bigger than Jamahl was. I think Josh is going to come in and give us a big anchor in the middle.”

Just because he’s expected to a key defensively, Helfer insists that Williams can also produce on the offensive end. Last year he averaged 8.6 per games and shot 53.3 percent from the field for Truett-McConnell.

“He’s good defensively, but offensively he’s not raw,” Helfer said. “He knows how to play in the post. He’s not going to be a guy that just tomahawk dunks on everybody. He’s got very good post moves and what he does very well is pass out the post as well as anybody that I may have coached in a long time. He sees double teams, sees the help signs, knows where to throw it out to. Those are great qualities to have in a post guy.”

With the addition of a 6-foot-11 shooter and a 6-foot-9 defensive force to a team that went 24-7 last season and returns four starters, the hype is already building for what might be one of the best men’s basketball teams in a long time at VSU. Helfer said seven players from last year’s squad have chose to stick around for the summer to work together, a sign that the players know something special could be in the works.

“I think our guys are sticking around for two reasons,” Helfer said. “Yes, they know we have a chance to improve on what we did last year, but they’re also a very tight group of guys. They’re like if everyone is staying then we need to be here and work together, shoot together and lift together. When you get that kind of player and leadership that’s a good sign.”

The new players will join the returning players for the first week of classes in mid-August, then practice begins in mid-October with the first game coming in mid-November. By that time a long, successful journey could be about to begin.

“I’m excited because we had some success last year,” Helfer said.” We have a lot of guys returning. They’re working extremely hard. Add in the new guys and we’re excited. I’m really excited about the quality of person we have in our program, especially with Billy and Josh who are great kids.”