Section B·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, March 19, 1998
Tennessee tailor tops for pro athletes
Well-known clients include Pippen, MJ Ed 'Too Tall' Jones
The Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Randolph Williamson has two lives. At night, he works at a Nissan plant. During the day, he fields phone calls from Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Ed "Too Tall" Jones and other athletes.
Is he a part-time agent? No, he is a tailor.
"The fabric mills just told me the material for Michael Jordan's latest order of 108 shirts will be here soon," said Williamson, leaning back in his chair with a look of reassurance.
The debonair Jordan is particular about his shirts and trusts no one but Williamson to make the shirts. Williamson gets his fabric from Italy, Egypt, Hong Kong and Paris.
"He wants them in about two weeks. I intend to make sure everything is exactly right," Williamson said.
"His designs are always very interesting," said Jordan, who has a 17 1/2-inch neck, a 40-inch sleeve and an extra-long, 39 1/2-inch shirt tail.
"He has good ideas, and he takes direction well, too, and
that's important to me because I like to have a say." Jordan said.
Jordan met Williamson through former Chicago Bulls teammate Cliff Levingston. Pippen is another customer, as are Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Ahmad Rashad, Ron Jaworski and others.
Williamson has a schedule that would make the workaholic Jordan proud. Five nights a week Williamson is at the Nissan plant and most days he is at his Nashville shop. He also helps care for his elderly parents and spends time with his 5-year-old daughter.
Williamson, 43, became interested in clothes during high school.
"I do a good job of managing my time," Williamson said, "and I am a quick napper."
During his junior year, Nashville schools began busing students to comply with court-ordered desegregation, which meant Williamson and other football players on his team could be split up.
To prevent ta split, more than 30 team members signed up for Phillip "King" Solomon's men's tailoring class, which was not offered at any other school.
Jordan: He and his Bulls teammates keep custom clothing maker busy
One day, the principal visited the class and threatened to sideline Williamson if he did not finish his assignment of sewing
a shirt by week's end.
The next game was against a cross-town rival, and Williamson was not about to miss it. He worked diligently, but the night before the game he still was struggling with the collar and cuffs
and asked to see the shirt. Williamson replied proudly: "I'm wearing it."
Solomon allowed the flustered teen to come to his home for assistance but refused to do the work for him. Somehow, Williamson completed the shirt.
Williamson continued to hone his needle-and-thread skills while attending Tennessee State University, where he also played football. "Too Tall" Jones was a teammate, and Williamson began making custom jeans and other clothes for him.
When the principal came by Friday morning
Soon, other players started seeking the services of Williamson, who stitched
"He had the machine and stuff right there in his dormitory room," Jones said.
Williamson received a degree in clothing textiles from TSU but did not get right into tailoring. He played professional football in Canada, but his career was cut short by a knee injury.
between practices and could turn out custom-made suits in two weeks.
He returned to Nashville and taught high school — his classes included men's tailoring. He left teaching after a year and started his tailoring business in 1983.
Money was tight, so Williamson took a job at Nissan, where he drives a fork lift and ships parts, but he kept tailoring on the side.
Jerry Benfield, the chief executive officer at Nissan, heard about Williamson's work and now is a customer.
"He's a great guy." Benefield said. "He's a hard worker here as well as at his business."
Meantime, Jones helped spread the word about Williamson to athletes and slowly his clientele grew. Now, Williamson dreams of becoming a full-time designer.
"Anything is possible," he said. "I never thought I'd be making the stuff I do now for the people I do, but I am."
Teams free to discuss UCLA-Alabama game
The Associated Press
OVERLAND PARK — The NCAA, still reeling out botched officiating in the final seconds of the UCLA-Alabama women's tournament game, has not imposed a gag order stopping anybody from talking about the controversy, a representative said.
"It's been reported in a number of places that the NCAA had indicated to Alabama that they could not discuss the game. That's untrue," Wally Renfro told The Associated Press yesterday.
Renfro, director of public relations, said the misunderstanding may have resulted from an NCAA directive that indicated any questions about the game put to members of the women's selection committee should be referred to Jean Ponsetto, the committee chairman.
Few events in NCAA history have triggered such widespread controversy as the game at Alabama on Sunday that Alabama won 75-74 on a desperation shot at the buzzer.
UCLA had gone ahead on a free throw with 1.8 seconds left. UCLA missed the second free
throw, and Alabama rebounded and called time out with .8 seconds left.
After the time out, the Alabama player inbounding the ball moved from the fixed spot, which is a violation, but was not called.
Then Alabama threw the ball up the court, where it was touched by both a UCLA and an Alabama player.
At that point, the clock should have started, but it did not. The ball was recovered by Latoya Caudle, whose game-winning shot clearly was away from her hand before the buzzer sounded.
There have been calls for the NCAA to either bring all the players back to the court and replay the final 1.8 seconds or to award the victory to UCLA.
"By rule, the jurisdiction of the officials lasts from 15 minutes before the start of the game until they leave the court after the game, which ends their jurisdiction, ends the game and approves the score," Renfro said. "What happened was very unfortunate."
The three officials have been told they will not work any more tournament games this year.
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