How TJ Williams is turning defenses’ disrespect into a weapon for Wichita State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Williams is beginning to use sagging defenders' space to attack downhill.
- Williams' recent bench scoring has been a key factor in WSU's late surge.
- Mental recovery and player versatility have aided his recent development.
Wichita State redshirt freshman T.J. Williams is learning one of basketball’s more frustrating lessons for young scorers this season.
The scouting report is out on Williams: Sag off and dare him to shoot from the outside. At 1 for 12 on 3-pointers this season, the space given to Williams is intentional. It’s a trap. A baited invitation to take a jumper.
Lately, Williams has started treating that space like a gift.
Instead of seeing a defender backing away and hesitating, Williams is beginning to see it as a runway — a lane to build momentum, attack downhill and turn a perceived weakness in his offensive profile into an advantage for the Shockers.
“I’ve just been watching film and learning how they’re guarding me and trying to pick it apart,” Williams said. “If you’re going to play that far back, I think it’s actually harder to stop when you’re standing still and I’m coming at you with a full head of steam. So if they keep doing it, I’m just going to try to keep using it to my advantage.”
It’s becoming a major reason why WSU is surging at the right time, riding a three-game winning streak into Thursday’s 8 p.m. road game at Memphis on ESPN2. The Shockers (18-10, 10-5 American) have won eight of their last 10, including a 15-point drubbing over the Tigers in Wichita, while Memphis (12-15, 7-7 American) is stumbling in on a four-game losing streak.
WSU is trying to keep pace with Tulsa (23-6, 11-5) for second place in the American standings and hold onto the No. 2 seed and its coveted triple-bye to the conference tournament semifinals. The Shockers also have a chance to sweep Memphis in the regular season for the first time since joining the conference in 2017-18.
To do it, WSU will have to solve a problem that has lingered for years: winning at FedExForum. The Shockers have lost seven straight at Memphis and have never beaten the Tigers with Penny Hardaway as coach.
If WSU is going to end both streaks, Williams’ ability to win the cat-and-mouse game against a defense that is likely to give him space could be one of the swing factors.
The 6-foot-5 Wichita native is averaging 8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists off the bench, but those season numbers don’t quite capture what he has looked like lately. In WSU’s two wins last week, Williams averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.
The best snapshot of Williams’ improvement came against Temple.
On one possession, Williams caught the ball just inside the 3-point arc. Even there, the defender gave him a cushion, sitting outside of arm’s length and effectively daring him to settle. Earlier in the season, that kind of coverage could bog him down. This time, Williams used the space to build a head of steam toward the rim, then got to one of his favorite counters: a drive to the right to set up the defender, followed by a spin back to his left hand. The move is smooth and forceful, looking like a veteran manipulating angles more than a redshirt freshman still learning how to score at this level.
The last three games have been the best Williams has looked since earlier in the season when he was in the starting lineup and in the midst of a breakout debut season, averaging 9.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists before suffering a concussion in the Rice game on Jan. 7.
“That was my first real concussion, so that was real difficult to come back from,” Williams said. “I was in a little bit of a fog, but it was mostly just trying to get my mental back. That was the hardest part.”
When Williams returned, he came off the bench and looked like a player who didn’t have the same confidence or explosion. Over his first eight games back, he averaged just 3.9 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Mills said that was the phase he warns every first-year player about, well before the adversity ever hits.
“Anytime somebody is in their first year (at Division I), you watch them hit that wall,” Mills said. “It’s eventually coming. That rut is coming. You’re eventually going to be at a place where you want to quit because you don’t know (what Division I is like). They’re all going to get to the pit. So I’m really proud of T.J. and his ability to get out of the pit.”
The first real sign he was back came Feb. 14 when he had nine points and eight rebounds in a home win over Tulsa. Then came the breakthrough at East Carolina, where Williams took over in double overtime and delivered a career-high 27 points with eight rebounds and two assists in a crucial road win. He followed that with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals against Temple.
The numbers were impressive. The process was even more encouraging.
“Whatever the game calls for, that’s what good player supply,” Williams said, reciting one of Mills’ favorite sayings. “So I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to win the game.”
That versatility is a big reason Mills is so high on him.
“He’s able to rebound and then break out, where most people at that position have to throw an outlet pass,” Mills said. “So the fact that he can handle it in the open court and that level of aggression, from the rebound to the breakout to making the right play, you’re watching a player who looks like he’s on a sophomore level rather than his freshman level.”
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