Sacramento State's Justin Williams to face brother's former team

From somewhere in France, where he is playing professionally, former Washington basketball player Jamaal Williams had a message for his little brother.

"He wished me the best of luck, but he said he has to go with his alumni," said Justin Williams, a 6-foot-6 swingman for the Sacramento State Hornets, who will play the Huskies at Edmundson Pavilion at 1 p.m. Sunday.

But little brother doesn't mind all that much.

"It just makes for better bragging rights," Justin said.

Not that anyone is really expecting UW to have much trouble Sunday. The Hornets are 2-2 after a 74-53 victory Friday night at the University of Denver. Earlier this season, the Hornets lost to New Mexico 92-56 and San Francisco 89-64.

Williams averaged 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in Sacramento State's first three games, including a career high of 14 points in a season-opening victory over Bethany.

But while he shares a name with his brother, he doesn't share the same type of game.

"I'm completely different from Jamaal," Williams said. "I'm a slasher, he's a banger."

Justin Williams has watched a few games at Edmundson Pavilion and wouldn't have minded following in his brother's footsteps. But with 13 scholarships, coaches have no choice but to be choosy, and Justin Williams said "our timing was always a little bit off as far as when they had scholarships available."

There's no hard feelings. The Williams family has been close with Washington coach Lorenzo Romar since before Jamaal came to UW in 2003. Williams' mother and Romar knew each other while growing up in Compton, Calif.

"It means a lot just to play against the school where my brother played and the relationship my family has with coach Romar and the coaching staff there," Williams said. "It's kind of like going against another family member."

Cover boys

Washington forward Jon Brockman and guard Ryan Appleby became just the third and fourth athletes in school history to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated this week when they appeared together on a regional cover of the magazine's college basketball preview issue. There are five different regional covers.

The only other UW athletes to appear on the cover of SI are quarterbacks Bob Schloredt (1960) and Sonny Sixkiller (1971).

"It's kind of surreal," said Brockman, adding he's been reading the magazine since he was a kid. "You can't believe it's really happening."

SI shot the photo earlier this month on a Sunday, needing about an hour to get it done.

"They took a lot of pictures of us doing the exact same thing," Brockman said.

The two players were chosen to fit the magazine's theme of "Big is Back," each cover featuring a big man and a guard.

"I think it's fantastic," Romar said. Freshman center Spencer Hawes also is featured in a photo essay titled "The Next Big Things," spotlighting seven of the top freshmen in the country.

Hawes is dubbed "The Throwback," wearing a uniform modeled after that worn by Bob Houbregs when he played for the Huskies in the 1950s.

"I thought it was cool," Hawes said. "I had a couple of reservations when I saw what I was going to be wearing, but then I just kind of went with it and had fun with it. It was a fun shoot. I thought it turned out pretty well."

Notes

• Romar said the starting lineup likely will be the same as it was for the past two games, with Hawes, Brockman and Appleby joined by Justin Dentmon and Quincy Pondexter.

• Joel Smith won't play while awaiting medical clearance, but could be back for the Eastern Washington game Friday.

• Redshirt freshman guard Harvey Perry didn't play against Northern Iowa. But it was simply a coach's decision based on the style of the game. Perry, who missed last season with a back injury, said he's still working his way back into optimum condition and trying to adjust to UW's defensive schemes.