University of Tennessee Athletics
Freshman Williams Shaping into Form
January 24, 2017 | Men's Basketball
By Danielle Whaley
UTSports.com
The transition from high school to college is exciting but sometimes challenging for any college student.
For Grant Williams, his transition has been just that, but it has also been a fast one.
The freshman forward joined the Tennessee basketball team this season after an impressive high school career at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. During his senior campaign, Williams found himself being awarded Associated Press All-State honors for a second straight year after averaging 15.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists, with 3.0 blocks and 0.5 steals per game. Heading into that senior year, he already had scored more than 1,100 career points.
While his performance on the court was notable, he said that his coaches were the ones who really made his time there worthwhile in shaping him into who he is today.
"Coach (Bryan) Field, Coach (Jonathan) McIntyre, Coach (Michael) Boyer and Coach (Aaron) Zucker were great coaches," Williams said. "They were mentoring me both as coaches and as father figures because I was around them 24/7. They were just there for me, and they helped mold me into the guy I am today both when I'm off the court smiling and joking around and when I'm on the court taking on some of the top competition in the country."
During his days at Providence Day School in Charlotte, Williams became one of only four players ever to be named The Charlotte Observer's Player of the Year in back-to-back years (2015 and 2016).
Williams caught the eye of numerous schools, including Ivy League institutions such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Tennessee assistant coach Desmond Oliver watched Williams extensively since the ninth grade and has seen considerable growth throughout the process.
"Ironically, his game hasn't changed a whole lot; he has just gotten better at what he was doing back then," Oliver said. "He needed to get himself in better shape. I think he has changed a lot here at UT in that regard because his conditioning has gotten a lot better."
That conditioning is what Williams considers to be the toughest part of his transition to the college basketball world. Through that conditioning, he worked his way into head coach Rick Barnes' system, one the freshman said is like no other.
"I wouldn't be able to guard it if I played it in high school, nor would I be able to coach against it if I end up being a coach one day," Williams said. "So, it's just something that you have to take and accept and let the system work for you rather than trying to work out of it."
Williams drew postgame praise from Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson after posting 15 points and 11 rebounds against the Razorbacks.
He has done just that in his short time on Rocky Top, all while balancing classes, homework and learning the ins and outs of playing under the second-year coach of the Vols. Nearly 20 games into his inaugural season at Tennessee, Williams has found himself leading the team with 5.5 rebounds per game. With his 6-foot-5 stature, he is quite undersized for his position, causing his productivity to come as a surprise to most, including coaches around the Southeastern Conference.
Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson praised Williams for his relentlessness.
"When he posts up, he may be undersized but I tell you, he plays big. I thought he was really active," Anderson said. "He was a great pickup for Rick, with the way he plays. Even going down the stretch we had to box him out on the free-throw line because somehow he came up with it. He never stopped. I love his motor. He has a big-time motor."
Along with leading the team in rebounds, Williams leads the Vols in blocks with 2.0 blocks per game. For him, blocking shots has always been one part of the sport that he loves most. His determination to make plays on the defensive side of the ball comes from the emphasis that Barnes puts on glass presence and inside rebounding, keys that Williams takes into consideration every time he steps on the court.
While he has proven himself as a defensive leader for Tennessee, Oliver believes that there is still so much more potential for Williams than what fans have seen on the court thus far.
Standing at just 6-5, Williams ranks fourth in the SEC in blocks per game (2.0). He is the only player listed inside the top five standing shorter than 6-9.
"He hasn't even tapped into 50 percent of what he can do once he's fully engaged physically and mentally into the game," Oliver said. "I think there's a whole lot of Grant that hasn't been seen in terms of playing harder for longer.
"I do think he's a very intelligent kid, so I think he understands what we're trying to teach within our system. Unlike a lot of freshmen that come here in their first year and they struggle to understand the system, I think Grant understands the system. His challenges are more physical, where we're asking him to master the system but also be the hardest-playing guy on the court at the same time."
With a significant portion of his freshman year ahead of him, Williams looks to continue to grow both on and off the hardwood. While he does feel like he has matured and toughened up through this transition, he says there is still room for improvement.
"I have to get smarter, stronger, and quicker," he said. "I just have to do a better job overall -- leading, being more vocal, and establishing a better presence inside, because it's on and off right now, and I need to be on it the entire time."
As for what he's most excited about looking forward in his career at Tennessee? Simply put: community.
"When we start winning and when we start bringing these fans in, I can't wait," he said. "I saw pictures and videos of it from back in the day, and if that happens soon, I'll be ecstatic."
Williams turned heads when he became the first UT freshman since Chris Lofton in 2005 to score 30 points in a game, dropping 30 points on 10-of-12 shooting (including 10-of-13 at the line) in a mid-December win over Lipscomb.
