Book signing with Max Williams

Max Williams has been called the “Father of Pro Basketball in Texas.” He was the first general manager of the Dallas Chaparrals in the old American Basketball Association that eventually became the San Antonio Spur. Williams, who grew up in tiny Avoca where led his team to a state championship and then became an all-American at SMU, is a member of the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame and is considered one of the greatest basketball players to come out of the Big Country. Williams will be in Abilene on Saturday to sign copies of his new book “The Last Shot” from 1-2:30 p.m. at the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame museum in the Mall of Abilene.

Here is what the book says about Max Williams:

    “Max Williams should not have been a great basketball player. He was too short. He came from the small Texas town of Avoca. He had only twelve in his graduating class. But nobody could stop him or slow him down. Max Williams became the all-time scoring leader for Texas high schools. He was an All-America at SMU, a flashy passer, a deadly shooter. Max Williams should have not even been in the oilfield. He had majored in insurance. He had been a high-dollar player in Dallas commercial real estate, but the bottom fell out of the market. He was dead broke when he gambled on oil exploration and ventured into the Austin chalk of Giddings, Texas. He knew very little about the business, but he drilled on guts and on gumption along. Giddings was known as the field of broke dreams. Major companies had drilled in the chalk and left behind dry holes and empty pockets. But Max Williams didn’t flinch. He defied the dreaded Austin Chalk and developed the nation’s greatest and most profitable oilfield in half a century. He was never afraid of adversity. He was never afraid of failure. All Max Williams every wanted on the basketball court or in the Texas oilfield was a chance to take the last shot.”

 For more information on this event, please call Al Pickett with the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame at (325) 668-3014.