GREENVILLE — Prior to practice on Tuesday, following an expressive 70-41 win over North Carolina, head coach Ruffin McNeill spoke to his team about staying focused and never wasting a day.

Before sending his East Carolina team to circuit training, McNeill called upon a certain former Washington quarterback to step forward. Sporting a sweatshirt and full neck brace, battle wounds from a four-catch, 37-yard performance on Saturday, Jimmy Williams emerged from a sea of purple and white practice uniforms, only to be rewarded with an athletic scholarship, his strong football work ethic finally paying off.

“You’ve earned it,” McNeill said.

After recording just five receptions for 66 yards his freshman year, Williams has assumed a new role in the Pirate offense as a situational slot receiver. He’s reeled in 12 catches for 174 yards in four games thus far. His biggest game in Pirates purple came in a 28-21 upset of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, where Williams broke free for a 35-yard reception, finishing with four catches and 77 yards in total.

While the remainder of William’s season seems to be in question due to an apparent neck injury, the former Pam Pack play caller has done enough to merit recognition from a Division I coaching staff.

Despite a scrawny, undersized build in high school, Washington head coach Sport Sawyer saw a dedicated player willing to work hard in the weight room. By his senior year, Williams’ had transformed from a scrappy runner to a 6’1’’, 175-pound playmaker.

Sawyer recalls one play in particular that proved Williams had the potential to be more than just a high school quarterback.

“There was a couple times his senior year where Patrick Thompson was in at quarterback and we put Jimmy at receiver,” he said. “I remember distinctively a play at White Oak, where we put Jimmy at receiver and Patrick threw him a little slip screen, kind of like what they have him doing at ECU. When he caught the pass, it was like a rocket got shot out of a launcher. He was gone.”

And he never stopped. The 55-yard touchdown reception in a 34-0 win over an old Coastal Conference foe was just the beginning of a journey that would eventually land him at East Carolina.

His senior year at Washington, Williams finished with a QB rating of 118.7 and 937-yards passing, while rushing for 1225 yards on 75 carries.

“When the guys come in as freshmen, we’d like them to have good grades and get an opportunity to go to the next level and play,” Sawyer said. “Some guys have had that, but to actually go to such a big stage in ECU and to see him make plays, we’re just very proud of him here. We hope he has continued success with East Carolina.”

The scholarship suggests that the ECU coaching staff expects Williams to mature as a slot receiver. An even more active role in the offense may be on the horizon for the Washington native in 2015.

The Pirates will host the Southern Methodist Mustangs in their inaugural American Athletic Conference game on Oct. 3, likely without the service of Williams at receiver.