If anybody knows William “Billy” St. Vincent, almost to a man, they’ll tell you he’s not the type who brags about his personal accomplishments, albeit he certainly had enough good fortune in the three major sports (baseball, basketball, and football) he participated in back in the day.

What makes this the perfect time to reminisce about those glory days of the past is the fact that this year marks the 50th anniversary of Billy being acclaimed the best star athlete of any high school kid in the state of Rhode Island.

In 1973, it was announced that Billy was named the recipient of the prestigious Providence Journal-Bulletin Honor Roll Boy Award, given annually to the best of the best in the state of Rhode Island. What makes this so noteworthy is that Billy was just the second Bristol High School athlete to earn that award…the first being the great Lou Murgo, who won the honor in 1950.

Bristol High School, back in the day, was a juggernaut in baseball, basketball and football, having turned out a number of All-Staters in all three sports. Athletes like Marty Biancuzzo, Anthony “Baker” Pereira, Julio ‘Whitey Mello” Tavares, Herman Grabert, Paul Bruno, Frank Murgo and Hector Massa, to name just a few.

The thing that separates St. Vincent with all of the aforementioned stars is that Billy never played on a championship team in his three years of varsity competition as a Colt. So, what he accomplished during his high school career on the field of competition (1971,’72 and ’73) was a singular effort of extraordinary proportions.

Fifty years later, Billy sat down with this reporter and talked about his high school sports career and his successful business venture that followed.

Playing for Eric Dober in football, Sandy Matrone in baseball, and Domenic N. ‘Zip” Raiola in basketball, Billy admittedly prospered by playing for three of the best Bristol High coaches who ever lived.

“You better believe it,” he announced. “I learned so much from those three men it wasn’t even funny. I wasn’t the biggest, fastest, or strongest athlete, but they saw something in me that other coaches probably wouldn’t have noticed.” That something else was his leadership qualities and willingness to do whatever else it took for the betterment of the team.

As a quarterback in football, a heads-up guard and floor general in basketball, and an All-State third baseman in baseball, Bill St. Vincent made his mark, loud and clear. Amazingly, he never missed a single game in junior high school or high school. As one of his teammates pointed out, “Billy was as tough as they came.”

The son of Willie St. Vincent and the late Margaret St. Vincent and stepmother Theresa St. Vincent, Billy enrolled at Providence College and graduated with honors in 1977. He later became a huge success as owner of 20-20 Vision Care, retiring after 40 years in the business.

The father of two daughters, Allison Patton and Carolyn St. Vincent, and a son, Brad St. Vincent (who’s a renowned pro poker player), Billy enjoys his current relationship with Chris Provost and the quality time playing golf with some of his old high school buddies, including Bristol High All-Stater and University of Bridgeport football All-American Roy Ferreira, among others.

St. Vincent, who still resides in Bristol, was inducted into the Bristol Athletic Hall of fame in 1999 and still loves playing golf and coaching middle school basketball.

St. Vincent relaxes in an easy chair at a local Dunkin' Donuts and spells out how he became so athletically gifted for a kid his size.

“It’s like a movie that someone else did,” he explained. “My coaches always let me do my thing. I didn’t mind that at all. I had some great teammates and looked up to kids like Junie Ferro and the late Rene Martinez. I miss those days and the support I got from my teammates and the fans. I wasn’t the biggest guy around, but I gave it everything I had. I guess that’s what’s really important.”