Freshman Quion Williams Seems To Be Finding His Groove

STILLWATER – It’s been a bit of an expected slow start to the season for Quion Williams. The freshman out of Jonesboro, AR, had been getting his feet under him at the collegiate level through the first five games of the season, but now it seems like he’s starting to walk on solid ground.

First in the Tulsa game on Friday, then once again in the next game against Prairie View A&M on Sunday, Williams set career-highs in nearly every category.

Against the Golden Hurricane, he went 3-of-4 from the field for six points and seven boards in 18 minutes, all career-highs. In fact, it doubled his point total from the first five games of the season.

All of that was followed by an 11-point performance against Prairie View A&M, 3-of-3 from the field, 1-of-1 from 3-point range and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in 26 minutes, once again setting career-highs.

“Yeah, to be honest, this is what I saw from him when I recruited him,” head coach Mike Boynton said after the game. “Obviously, watching him do it as a high school junior and senior, he was much more comfortable in that environment with those teammates to just play kind of that style. And then you get here and now terminology changes, and you feel like, ‘I got to do everything that the coach is telling me, and my feet has to be in this position, my hand has to be in this position, and I have to say these specific words.’ Some of it’s true, but not all of it. Sometimes you got to let go of the technicalities, and just go be a ballplayer. The game doesn’t change that much. There are more talented people out there, there’s more strategy involved, but by nature of his hustle and his effort, he can have an impact the way did today.”

Things will start to get tough for the Pokes as they’re set to enter what appears to be a gauntlet over the next four games. They’ll travel to Storrs, CT, for a showdown with UConn in the Big 12/Big East Challenge, which very well could be the toughest non-conference game the Pokes have this season. The Huskies are now 8-0 on the season with a very impressive 82-67 win over No. 18 Alabama in the Phil Knight Invitational.

Williams will continue to get more and more comfortable and more and more confident with each passing game. Now, UConn presents a different challenge for not just Williams, but the team as a whole. Can Williams continue the success he’s had in the last two games? It’s certainly possible. However, if it doesn’t happen, which is also likely, I liked what Boynton had to say about Williams’ mindset and growth early in the season.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him kind of start just playing free. Again, we talked about a little bit of it Friday, it’s hard as a freshman, because this is a hard deal to do. And we don’t have anybody to feel sorry for you. You can kind of get lonely, but he’s tough. You know, he’s got a little bit of enough resilience to overcome some struggles. He’s fearless enough, because he doesn’t know that he’s supposed to be worried. And because of that he’s been able to impact our guys and gain the respect of his teammates, more importantly.”