A college basketball player's career arc is typically not a straight upward trajectory, and that certainly has been the case for Ohio State redshirt freshman Kam Williams.
Williams, who was the Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year as a junior at Mount St. Joseph and a first-team all-BCL selection as a senior, has seen his progress creep during his two years in Columbus, slowed by a number of factors.
A bout with mononucleosis five weeks into the preseason led to Buckeyes coach Thad Matta redshirting the the 6-foot-2, 175-pound shooting guard last season.
The arrival of freshman star D'Angelo Russell, who plays the same position as Williams, has limited his minutes — and touches — this season. Williams' struggles at the defensive end have also contributed to something of a rollercoaster in his effort to secure a regular spot in the rotation.
Going into Thursday's home game against 16th-ranked Maryland (18-3, 6-2 Big Ten), Williams is coming off his longest and most productive stint in nearly a month for Ohio State (16-5, 5-3). Williams scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and played solid defense in 26 minutes of Sunday's 82-70 win over then-No. 23 Indiana in Columbus.
It followed a seven-game stretch in the Big Ten during which Williams averaged fewer than 10 minutes per game and scored a total of just 13 points. Williams had averaged nearly 10 points per game in the non-conference schedule, including a career-high 23 against High Point on Dec. 10.
"Kam played really, really well for us [Sunday]. I love the progress he's making," Matta said Monday on the Big Ten coaches' teleconference. "Being with us last year and redshirting, [in] hindsight was a great thing for him. I think the thing I love about Kam is that he's got a great understanding of what his role is on this basketball team."
In a telephone interview Tuesday, Williams twice called his redshirt year "a blessing in disguise" and said he wouldn't classify his inconsistent minutes this year as frustrating. Williams said it is all part of a learning process that began last year when "I was able to practice against some of the best players in the country and was able to get my body healthy and my game better."
Williams said he is unconcerned about playing a lesser role as Russell has quickly become one of the best players in the country. Russell ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring (19.4) and fourth in 3-point shooting, with Ohio State sophomore Mark Loving ranked first in that category.
"I don't really focus on that," Williams said about his scoring, which is now at 7.3 points a game. "It's not about me. Whenever I do come in, I want to be ready when my name is called. I don't think about that [scoring]. I just care about winning and helping my team."
Likewise, Williams said he looks at Thursday's game against his home-state team "as just another game, another chance for us to get better." (He's one of two Buckeyes from the Baltimore area, the other being Columbia's Anthony Lee, a graduate transfer from Temple.)
Ohio State has gotten better, winning four of its past five games. The Buckeyes started the season ranked No. 20 in the country and were considered an upper tier team in Big Ten, but they lost their two non-conference games against nationally ranked teams, at No. 5 Louisville in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and at home to then-No. 24 North Carolina.
Ohio State dropped its Big Ten opener at home to Iowa and then dumped its zone defense in favor of man to man during an overtime win at Minnesota. Williams has seen improvement in his defense as the season has progressed, an assessment his coaches agree with.
"I think I've come the furthest on the defensive end," Williams said. "I'm much better as an on-the-ball defender, and off the ball, I understand where to force my man, things like closing out [on shooters]. As far as offensively, I'm probably the most confident guy on the floor. If I play hard on defense, my offense will come."
Had he been healthy, Williams likely could have made a greater impact on last year's Buckeyes.
"We needed him more last year, because we couldn't score from the perimeter," Ohio State associate head coach Dave Dickerson said. "And I thought if he had been able to play he could have helped us win some games ... because he can score in bunches."
Dickerson, who played at Maryland under Lefty Driesell and Bob Wade and coached in College Park as an assistant under Gary Williams, helped the Buckeyes beat out Miami for Williams. He said Williams needs to improve his defense and overall floor game to get on the court more.
"Obviously we want him to come in and be a sparkplug [offensively] off the bench, but we also want him to come in and not be a liability defensively now that we're playing man," Dickerson said. "That's the area I've seen him improve the most the last two weeks. He's a capable defender."
Though Williams will probably not become the next Juan Dixon, as some projected when he was coming out of high school, Dickerson said he thinks "Kam will maturate into one of the main components in our program. He has a chance to be that this year off the bench."
Dickerson didn't hold back when discussing what the Buckeyes have to get from Williams in order to make a push for an NCAA tournament bid.
"We need him to play better than he's playing right now," Dickerson said. "Obviously we have a long way to go for the season, and I think he can put himself in a situation where he can be one of our top five scorers this year. He' s going through growing pains now, which is clear, but what he brings to the table is a missing element we have from our team. That is a much needed component to our team outside of D'Angelo Russell."
Watching his former star on television whenever he is able, longtime Mount St. Joseph coach Pat Clatchey said he is always trying to read Williams' body language on the bench. He can sense a little frustration with Williams playing behind Russell, but he tells Williams to remain patient, given that Russell could leave and be an NBA lottery pick after the season.
"He's always been a more than capable shooter and scorer. He's also an athletic guy. He's got a lot of bounce, those are his stretngths that allow him to play at this level." Clatchey said. "He's probably still a work in progress in terms of becoming a more well-rounded player. A lot of guys in college are at the same stage."
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