Benny Williams’ season over, SU career just starting

If I was requested to sum up the freshman period of Syracuse basketball forward Benny Williams, two matters would quickly adhere out.

Just one is the preposterous reverse layup Williams engineered in the team’s recent house reduction to best-10 Duke, as the Orange freshman registered his ideal output of the 2021-22 marketing campaign in an come upon with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s leading team.

The next is adhering to a mid-January setback by the ‘Cuse at the hands of Florida Point out, Williams did not see the courtroom at all. But following the video game, Williams was nonetheless challenging at perform, putting up some shots and honing his craft.

My very first illustration about Williams here signifies, to me, the stellar prospective that he possesses. I believe that that he will shine as a sophomore, significantly like other recent Orange gamers these kinds of as Dion Waiters and Michael Carter-Williams did in creating enormous leaps from their freshmen to sophomore stanzas in Central New York.

A lot more importantly, at least to me in any case, my 2nd example famous in this piece clearly illustrates Williams’ do the job ethic and general character.

When Williams rode the bench that total contest versus the Seminoles in January, he was not whining about it afterward. He was placing in get the job done.

Syracuse basketball forward Benny Williams has endured a tough freshman expression.

Williams, a really likable young man, arrived on the Hill as one particular of the optimum-rated recruits within just the Orange plan in current seasons. The Bowie, Md., native suited up at the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., just before coming to the ‘Cuse, and I experience that expectations for him as a Syracuse basketball novice were being potentially a little bit overinflated.

What I indicate by that is, a large amount of Orange enthusiasts whom I would interact with on social media and in chat rooms thought that, presented Williams’ high recruiting rankings on a countrywide scale within just the 2021 cycle, he would show some variety of savior for the workforce in his freshman stint.

Well, that did not arise, and as head mentor Jim Boeheim has correctly pointed out much more than at the time of late, Benny Williams is not the only hugely rated freshman throughout the region to not have a major-time impact or engage in large-time minutes in his initial time for a substantial-key squad through the 2021-22 campaign.

As Syracuse basketball (15-15, 9-10) was established to near out its normal season on Saturday afternoon as opposed to Miami at the Carrier Dome, SU Athletics introduced previously this 7 days that Williams would miss out on the remainder of the 2021-22 stanza because of to a lower-system injury endured this earlier Monday evening when the Orange fell in overtime to North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Williams is “expected to make a whole recovery,” according to a statement on cuse.com, with media studies suggesting he may well need about 4 to 6 weeks to thoroughly get well.

So Williams’ freshman year on the Hill is done. Per ESPN stats, he performed in 29 game titles, averaging 10.8 minutes, 1.9 factors and 1.4 rebounds a contest. Williams linked on 33.9 per cent from the field, 61.9 percent from the free-toss line and 9.1 % from outside of the arc.

Regardless of all those quantities, Benny Williams confirmed flashes of athleticism, talent and prospective in his freshman expression with the ‘Cuse. His work ethic is great, and he offers integrity.

Much more enjoying time need to be there for him in 2022-23, when Syracuse basketball could have a reasonably younger roster, and Williams will possible be a focal level in Boeheim’s rotation.

Guaranteed, the 2021-22 stanza wasn’t particularly what we all had hoped for in Williams’ freshman 12 months, but I for 1 admire and regard this youthful person. I’m rooting for Benny Williams to shine when he once more dons an Orange uniform on the courtroom in an official capacity down the line.