DURHAM - The year 2006 may belong to Jason Williams. That's hard to fathom considering the former Duke basketball star nearly lost his life in a motorcycle accident three years ago. He was left with a broken pelvis, a mangled left knee and nerve damage in his left leg. He also lost his NBA career.

Now Williams, 24, is ready to reclaim it. After a slow recovery, the 2002 consensus college player of the year worked out for 10 NBA teams last month. He said Monday he's waiting on two teams.

Those are reasons enough to explain why Williams smiled brightly while dripping with sweat on Monday after playing pickup ball with other camp counselors at the Running Mates youth basketball camp he runs at Durham's Emily Krzyzewski Family Life Center with former Duke teammate Chris Duhon.

"It's good to be with the kids while I'm going through my own crazy stuff right now," Williams said. "I'm on the verge of finding out where I'll be playing, so it's good to be here having a good time with Chris and all the guys."

Running with the boys is a far cry from the agonizing months Williams spent after he ran into a light pole while driving a new motorcycle following his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls.

Working to build stamina, Williams would wake at 7:30 a.m. every day and walk down to the gate at the end of the long driveway of his rental house, then back up to the house.

"By the time I'd get back, it would be like 9:30," Williams said of the one-mile round trip. "I'd be so tired, I'd go back in the house and pass out until like 5."

Williams has had to prove himself NBA-ready the hard way.

Before being drafted in 2002, he worked out for just two teams -- Chicago, which had the second pick, and Golden State, which had the third.

This time around, Williams worked out for Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey, Memphis, Milwaukee and Phoenix -- during three weeks in June.

Each workout included up to 2 1/2 hours of agility drills, running and weight lifting before Williams matched up against guys who had been sitting around waiting to play.

"Mentally, it was crazy," Williams said. "You know everyone was looking at me because they want to see where you are at. I'm pressing myself to do well and give all energy in each workout. But, if I'm in Memphis on Tuesday, then I go to Cleveland on Wednesday, Cleveland doesn't care what I did on Tuesday. That's how the NBA season is, too."

Williams said he's not the same athlete who scored 2,195 points and won a national title at Duke. He thinks he's smarter, though, and a better fit at point guard after studying the game for three years and then playing ball every day for the past year and a half.

"Everyone's going to do it anyway, but it's unfair to compare me to who I was before," Williams said. "I'm not going to be the crazy guard who gives you 40 points. At the same time, I used to be so fast that it got me into trouble. I'm a lot smarter of a player, a guy who can direct a team, knock down shots and make good passes."

Still, Williams said the three years away from the NBA spotlight flew by relatively quickly.

"I couldn't have told you two years ago on what level I would be able to play this game," Williams said. "I would have been very content to play rec league ball because I love playing basketball. I didn't know what kind of player I was going to be but I knew I'd be a better one."

Williams is grateful to be playing at all. Plus he feels lucky; the accident gave him the time to know how much he cherishes friends, family, and Noelle Carter, whom he calls his future fiancee.

But three years is a long time. Does Williams feel old?

"I do," Williams said, laughing at himself. "Kids [during these camps] will say, 'I remember you doing this and that.' I'm only 24! But the kids were looking at me like I was 45 or 50. Crazy. But I do feel a lot more mature."

Williams got to catch his breath this month. He'll be in Durham with Carter until it's time for a training camp in October. He expects to know the team he'll be playing for in the next two weeks.

"It's been a battle every day for the past three years to get back so I'm just happy it's over with," he said. "I told my agent, 'Listen, I've done everything I can do. It's up to you guys now.' "