AUBURN | Jaylin Williams gave a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing the last three weeks of last season.
He’s aiming to show a lot more in year two. Just ask his roommate at Auburn.
“I would always tell him, 'Just stay ready, stay in the gym, do that.' Then he got his chance, and he proves himself a little bit toward the end of the season,” fellow sophomore Devan Cambridge said. “Now this year -- for like the last two months, month-and-a-half -- he's been killing. I don't know what got to him.
“I mean, I talk to him all the time, but like he's just been in a different like go mode. Leading, scoring, rebounding, creating for others, he looks great. He's been winning. He really hasn't lost. His win percentage is very high in practice. Like, he's been doing very good.”
In the last six games of the 2019-20 season, Williams averaged 3.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. Those numbers might not jump off the page, but they included a pass to himself off the backboard that Williams dunked against Tennessee. And Williams had totaled just six minutes of SEC action in the Tigers first 12 conference games.
The Nahunta, Ga., native is determined to build off that improvement this season.
“You know, like, from last year, again, I really didn’t have many minutes. I didn’t play as well because I had two seniors ahead of me. It was kind of hard,” Williams said. “So I just stayed in the gym, just working on ball-handling and everything, all around. And then this summer, during the COVID time, we all got sent home at one point, and I was just working on my game to improve everything all around. And then up till now, I’m still working on the same stuff – rebounding better, playing off two feet better and making plays.”
Williams has the ability to fill a key role in Bruce Pearl’s system as a stretch-4 with the ability to defend and rebound against bigger power forwards and also step outside and make 3-pointers and drive to the basket.
He’s already drawing comparisons to Chuma Okeke, who was the quintessential stretch-4 under Pearl from 2017-19.
“I think he's picked up right where he left off at the end of the season,” said junior Jamal Johnson. “He's still aggressive. He's a matchup problem at the 4 spot. He's 6-8 but he can put the ball on the floor, he can shoot the 3 and he's really athletic. So, I mean, whoever's guarding him is going to be hard for the opposing team because of his dual-threat with shooting, dribbling, passing, posting up, finishing. He kind of reminds me a little of Chuma Okeke -- a left-handed version.”
Williams is just fine with that comparison. Okeke was chosen in the first round, 16th overall, in the 2019 NBA Draft despite still recovering from a knee injury suffered in Auburn’s run to the 2019 Final Four.
“I feel like that’s a good comparison, a first rounder, so that’s cool with me. No pressure,” said a smiling Williams.
Williams is one of five sophomores on a team with five true freshmen and two juniors. With such a young team in Pearl’s seventh season at Auburn, Williams wants to take on another important role.
“I feel like coming in and playing those minutes, that just pushed me to play even more to become a better player for this season, to be more of a leader for this team, because y’all know we’re a young team. We have to have a leader somewhere, and I’m trying to fit that role, to be a leader,” Williams said.
Auburn is expected to open up the season against St. Joe’s Nov. 25 in a tournament in Ft. Myers, Fla., which will also include Gonzaga and Kansas according to Jon Rothstein of College Hoops Today.
