Relishing His Final Collegiate Games, Kam Williams Came Up Big Down the Stretch for Ohio State

By Chris Lauderback on March 22, 2018 at 11:05 am
Kam Williams closed out his collegiate career like a boss.
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
10 Comments

Perceived lack of individual player development became a common complaint among many Ohio State fans toward the latter stages of the Thad Matta era. 

Reasons most often cited for stifled growth ranged from Matta's health concerns to a declining quality of assistant coaches to players simply not putting in enough time in the gym to hone their craft. 

After three years in the program, there was enough evidence to believe Kam Williams might emerge as another name on the list of underdeveloped though it should be pointed out Williams was a noted gym rat. 

Following a sophomore season in which he shot a respectable 44% from both the field overall and beyond the arc while averaging 8.3 points in 21.9 minutes per game, things didn't quite go as planned during his junior campaign. 

KAM WILLIAMS - JUNIOR SEASON OVERALL AND BIG TEN STATISTICS
INTERVAL GAMES MIN/G FG/FGA FG% 3FG/3FGA 3FG% RPG APG TOG PPG
OVERALL 32 30.7 108 / 276 39.1% 50 / 133 37.6% 2.1 1.0 1.1 9.4
BIG TEN 15 23.5 57 / 160 35.6% 22 / 68 32.4% 2.4 1.4 1.0 8.5

Forced to play 30.7 minutes per game as Keita Bates-Diop's injury caused everyone in the rotation to play a bigger role than their capability realistically suggested, Williams was exposed at the both ends of the floor. 

Without tight enough handles to consistently get his own shot and a willingness to settle for long distance attempts, Williams shot just 39.1% from three-point land. Despite the poor percentage, Williams still opted to take 48% of his shots from deep over the course of the season. 

As the competition ratcheted up during conference play, Williams was even worse shooting an abysmal 35.6% from the floor including 32.4% from downtown.

Showing the wear and tear from being asked to play too many minutes and taking on a role seemingly outside his comfort zone, Williams shot 50% or better from the floor just four times in 18 conference games and reached double figures only once over the final nine. 

With those numbers hovering over Williams heading into his senior season, a funny thing happened on the way to becoming a name that failed to show significant improvement over his Buckeye career. 

The return of a healthy Bates-Diop and the emergence of C.J. Jackson helped slide Williams to a more specialized role and to his credit, Kam responded largely in spades, especially down the stretch. 

KAM WILLIAMS - SENIOR SEASON OVERALL AND BIG TEN STATISTICS
INTERVAL GAMES MIN/G FG/FGA FG% 3FG/3FGA 3FG% RPG APG TOG PPG
OVERALL 31 23.6 106 / 215 49.3% 42 / 94 44.7% 2.1 0.8 0.6 9.0
BIG TEN 15 23.5 51 / 92 55.4% 16 / 36 44.4% 2.5 0.7 0.5 8.3

Flashing generally improved ball handling and shot selection, Williams took 44% of his shots from distance as a senior compared to the noted 48% last season and he was even more focused on challenging defenses in conference play as he attempted just 39% of shots from distance after 43% as a junior. 

For his efforts, Williams saw his overall season shooting percentage improve a full 10 points to 49.3% while his three-point accuracy jumped seven percentage points to 44.7%. In conference play, Williams was even better shooting an impressive 55% from the field. 

Kam's season wasn't without its blemishes however highlighted by a three-game suspension for a violation of team rules toward the latter half of Big Ten play and even when Williams returned, he played just 16 and 12 minutes in his first two games back in the fold.

Absorbing the reality he had just two remaining regular season games plus whatever additional postseason games the Buckeyes would earn left to play in his Buckeye career, Williams flipped the switch.

The Baltimore product scored 13 and 15 points respectively in Ohio State's final two regular season games on the strength of 12-of-22 shooting (55%) and followed that up with 10 points on 50% shooting in the Big Ten Tournament loss to Penn State. 

Kam Williams
Kam Williams proved a much more aggressive offensive threat as a senior for the Buckeyes.

Now facing the possibility his next game could be his last, and with exactly 12 minutes and zero points on his career NCAA Tournament resume, Williams gave Chris Holtmann all he could ask for and then some scoring 22 points with five rebounds and three steals in a win over No. 12 seed South Dakota State before a 19-point, 3-assist performance in Ohio State's season-ending loss to No. 4 seed Gonzaga. 

Kam's determination to go out with a bang certainly wasn't lost on his head coach as Holtmann praised Williams during his radio show earlier this week. 

“He was really the difference for us in a lot of games, and as a coach, you’re saying ‘Man, is there a way I could have gotten that out of him earlier in the season.’ You’re kind of racking your brain trying to figure that out as a coach, but man, was he good for us.

Holtmann continued, "We obviously don’t beat a really good South Dakota State team without his play. His aggressiveness. And then at Gonzaga, he was so aggressive. But listen, we all know with Kam’s size, and he’s got some deficiencies defensively, but he competed really hard defensively in the last part of the season. Really hard. Was really proud of him. But man, was he good, just so aggressive. Coming off screens, we ran a lot of stuff for him later in the year, really in the tournament, we probably went to him as much as we went to Keita, just because he was so effective for us.”

No question Kam was an animal over those final five games as he shot over 50% each outing and combined to score 15.8 points per game on 53% from the field (32-of-60). 

As someone who admittedly wasn't sure way back in November if Williams deserved to see a high volume of meaningful minutes, it was a blast watching a four-year player not only show such improvement from year to the next but really put it all together toward the end of his career especially on the big stage of the NCAA Tournament. 

10 Comments
View 10 Comments