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AUBURN, Ala. | What's the first impression Auburn fans will have of incoming freshman New Williams?
If his high-flying antics from the Jordan Brand 'Take Flight' Dunk Contest in January are any indication, it will be a rim-rattling dunk.
"He's arguably the best athlete in the state of California," Santa Monica assistant coach Brian Part said. "He's won numerous dunk contests. We had a Jordan brand dunk contest where some of the best athletes in California were in the contest and he won hands down.
"He's known for his jumping ability and at 6-2 he can get up and almost touch the top of the box. He's incredibly explosive. That's the thing that will jump out to all the fans. I think he'll be the bounciest player on the team."
When Williams signed with Auburn in November, he was just starting to return to form after ACL surgery on his knee last spring. He came back a better player.
"It was a miraculous heal by all standards coming back in six months, returning to the court and trying to find himself and find his rhythm," Part said. "His prior year, his junior year, he only played about 7-10 games and he was playing on a torn ACL and could shoot the ball.
"He came back his senior season as a much more refined shooter. He achieved what I call knock-down status in terms of his shooting ability."
Williams physical skills are impressive but it's his competitiveness that sets him apart from many other top prospects and should serve him well on the next level.
"He's never going to back down," Part said. "He's never going to let somebody take his spot. The cream rises to the top and he's always competing better against tougher competition. He takes it to another level."
Part said Williams averaged approximately 14 points and 8 rebounds per game as a senior but that's just half the story.
"He was on a minute restriction a lot of the season just to make sure that his knee his healing properly and we're not overworking him," Part said. "He wanted to play, felt he was ready to play, but you always want to err on the side of caution especially when he has something much bigger in front of him.
"We don't want him to show up at Auburn as damaged goods. We wanted him to be ready to go and compete for a position. That's what he wants and he's ready for it."
Williams took about four weeks off to rest his knee after the season but is already back in the gym training again and preparing to report to Auburn in May.
"He had been going to either rehab or playing basketball and practice for a year and a half so I told him he earned a little rest," his father, Zo Williams said. "Now he's back into going to the gym and drilling and shooting and dribbling and doing all of his skill stuff. He's so excited to come to Auburn you can't really keep him out of the gym.
"The one thing about New is he's probably going to outwork anybody. He's just that competitive when it comes to getting back into the flow of the game, training. He's a gym rat."
