Glenn Williams knows the question coaches will ask right off the bat about why he’s not playing at Copiah-Lincoln Community College this spring as planned and what exactly happened.

So he’ll level with them.

&8220;It really was a personality conflict between me and the coach,&8221; said former Adams Christian standout admitted. &8220;That’s what I’m concerned of &045; they’ll ask me about that. I can tell them that, and I think I wasn’t dedicated enough. After having time to think about it, I miss baseball so much. I’ve rededicated myself to baseball.&8221;

The latter isn’t hard to believe, but the fact that Williams and Co-Lin parted ways was a head-scratcher after the left-handed power hitter put up stellar numbers at the Class AAA level for the Rebels and seemed a cinch to excel in college.

But it never happened.

Williams said for one reason or another his relationship with coaches at Co-Lin went awry, and the he opted to walk instead of join hometown teammates Gregory Ketchings, Te Riley and Garrett Jones to suit up for the Wolves this spring.

Now Williams is realizing what he’s missing, and he’s trying to stay as sharp as possible while trying to find another team to latch on to for 2006.

He’s still enrolled at Co-Lin, but now he takes cuts in the cage at Brookhaven Academy and helps out head coach Ken Cooksey there when the team isn’t playing a game.

&8220;Now I lift about an hour to an hour and a half each day, go to baseball practice and hit in the cage,&8221; Williams said. &8220;I was looking for a cage to hit in, and I knew (Cooksey). I figured he’d let me hit. He said, &8216;I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I don’t have anybody to help me coach.’ I’m just trying to keep in baseball shape.&8221;

While he continues to work and sit out the 2005 season, Williams sits at a crossroads of where to go and what to do next season. He had an option at one time this spring when he had an offer to play at Lipscomb University, but coaches there wanted a confirmation too quickly for the distance he’d have to travel to get there.

Williams would like to play at Louisiana-Monroe since he’s planning on entering the pharmacy field. The Indians have a solid program, and they suit up former Franklin Academy standout Tyler Harris, the Class A-AA MVP of the MPSA All-Star game last May (Williams was the AAA MVP).

Yet the former Rebel will keep his options open. It’s not every day you come across left-handed power, so he’s got that working for him.

Even more so now Williams has a renewed sense of excitement to get out there. Maybe he took it for granted coming out of high school and left the situation at Co-Lin with a greater sense of maturity, but he’s absolutely certain of what he wants to do now.

Just play baseball.

&8220;I’ve played it forever,&8221; he said. &8220;I guess I kind of got burned out on it. Now I want to be out there so bad. I’m trying to work hard and get my name out there again. I think I’m probably in the best shape I’ve ever been in. We’ll just see what happens.&8221;

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at (601) 445-3632 or at

adam.daigle@natchezdemocrat.com

.