While at Villanova, Will Sheridan was openly gay to his teammates and now has come out publicly. He talks about wanting to make a difference; the chord his story struck; the homophobic taunts he received from fans and his big plans as a recording artist.
By Jim Buzinski
Outsports.com
Will Sheridan was a forward on the Villanova basketball team from 2003-2007 and helped take the Wildcats to the NCAA Elite 8 one year. That whole time, he was out to his teammates, but not to the public. That changed this week when he was profiled by Dana O'Neil in ESPN.com.
Her story, which detailed his close relationship with his teammates and coach and his strained one with his father, thrust Sheridan, 26, into the spotlight, which he is now ready to embrace. A New Age hip-hop recording artist with an eclectic sound, Sheridan is releasing his first full album this fall, while his music video "Welcome to the Jungle" from his Ngoma EP has already gotten 75,000 YouTube views in the month since it was released. He released his second video, "302," the day we spoke. He also works in the fashion industry in New York.
While an athlete, Sheridan regularly checked Outsports, wondering if anyone was speculating he was gay, a concern of his at the time. In a wide-ranging interview, he talks about his career as an athlete, an artist, the reaction to his coming out story and his plans to be active in the community.
Outsports: When did you first say to yourself, I am gay?
Will Sheridan: I was curious at a very young age and I acted on that curiosity. … I went through a very interesting phase because of people projecting images onto me and me buying into it. Being super-tall, super-big, decent-looking, a decent athlete. I used to say to people – and this will sound really lame – I tried to be straight and it just didn’t work.
I legitimately thought it was something I was going to suppress for a really long time and it would just go away and I would get married and be quote, unquote “normal.”
I went through a phase where I hated being gay and I denied it. I was curious and I hated it but I was acting on it. Then I was also put in a position where you seek out affection.
But then I just started living my life one day. When you are in a relationship, people kind of bring you out of your comfort zone. When you’re truly in love with someone, which I was [he met a man while a college sophomore] that individual helped me really experience a real relationship with a man, and let me know it was something I could hold onto and grow with and grow old with someone. Being in a relationship makes things real.
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