It has been a patient wait, but Fayetteville native C.J. Williams is making the most of his senior season as a starting guard for the N.C. State men's basketball team. In his best season in Wolfpack red and white, Williams is averaging 11.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. That's quite an improvement from 4.7 points a game a year ago, not to mention his senior season average almost equals his combined average from the three previous years of 12.7 a game.
The former Jack Britt High School standout is playing 31 minutes a game, up from 17.6 a year ago. He even started the current season as the Pack's leading scorer, pouring in 25, 21 and 18 points on different nights. Even after C.J. Leslie and Scott Wood took over the majority of the scoring spotlight, Williams scored 18 points against Wake Forest and 15 versus Georgia Tech in early February.
But his new coach, Mark Gottfried, hasn't gone easy on him as he challenged Williams in January to improve defensively.
"It's time to cut to the chase, he has to be better defensively on the perimeter, period," said Gottfried in a Charlotte Observer blog. "For our team to take a step to become better, we have to have a perimeter shut-down guy and we think it's him."
For the most part, the 6-foot-5, 224-pound Williams has answered the call, helping State to a record of 18-10 overall and 7-6 in the ACC, good enough for the top tier of the league. That's something the Wolfpack hasn't done since the Herb Sendek days, when they frequented the NCAA tournament.
To get to that destination, it's looking like N.C. State will need Williams to step up even more. Two losses to Carolina and a nail biter with Duke have damaged their chances. With three regular season games left and the ACC tournament awaiting in March, State fans in Fayetteville and on Fort Bragg are hoping Fayetteville's own Williams can propel them into March Madness.
Even if the Wolfpack doesn't qualify for the NCAA tournament, Williams and his teammates will be playing in their first non-conference postseason and C.J. will have an opportunity at season's end to advance to the next level. That's something everyone in Fayetteville can admire.