WSU Shockers basketball announces Wichita native TJ Williams will redshirt this season
Wichita State basketball fans will have to wait until next season to see Wichita native T.J. Williams on the court.
WSU head coach Paul Mills announced Friday that Williams, a 6-foot-5 freshman, has officially made the decision to redshirt this season after a torn meniscus injury derailed the first half of his debut year.
The injury forced Williams, the 2024 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, to miss critical practice time in the preseason and the first six weeks of the regular season before he was able to suit up.
Even then, Williams has not been healthy enough to make an appearance so far in WSU’s 12-10 season, which continues Sunday with a road game at South Florida.
“His knee hasn’t cooperated at the time we needed it to in order to have him out there,” Mills said. “It’s good for him to be able to practice every day and understand what it is. He’ll be a little bit further ahead of the curve given the fact he can use his freshman year to educate himself about what’s required in order to be good at this level.”
In other injury news, Mills also confirmed WSU will be without the services of senior center Zane Meeks (knee scope) for the entire season. There was some hope he would be able to return sometime during American Athletic Conference play, but like Williams, Meeks’ knee did not respond the way he hoped. Meeks has still not been cleared to even return to practice.
And unlike the freshman, Meeks will not be able to redshirt because this marks his sixth year in college.
As for Williams, a redshirt season seems wise after the top-200 prospect missed crucial weeks of preseason training and then the first 12 games of the season. Mills said he returned to on-court workouts in mid-November, then steadily progressed to full contact by the end of December.
The 6-foot-5, 202-pound wing figures to eventually add another weapon to WSU’s arsenal of attack-first guards. His offensive specialty in high school at Heights was attacking the rim, which fits right in with how Mills has used his guards early in his tenure.
Williams averaged 16.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks in his final season at Heights, earning the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year title and also helping the Falcons to their second straight Class 6A championship appearance.
Williams picked WSU over Iowa and Missouri in recruiting.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 12:15 PM.
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