By Bailey Knecht, news staff
The 2016-17 season may not have ended the way the Northeastern men’s basketball team had planned—the sixth-seeded Huskies fell to Towson University by a 28-point margin in a swift exit from the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament. If there was a silver lining in Northeastern’s season, however, the case could be made for senior guard T.J. Williams, the Colonial Athletic Association’s leading scorer and Player of the Year.
“I thought T.J. had one of the strongest single seasons on record here at Northeastern,” said head coach Bill Coen. “It really was remarkable from the opening game to the final buzzer. He did everything for us. He was our primary ball handler, he was our leading scorer, he was our leading assist guy and many times our leading rebounder. He gave us a chance to win each and every game.”
Williams has been a staple of Northeastern basketball for the past four years, playing in 123 of a possible 131 games. And although Williams started in nearly every game during his Northeastern career, it wasn’t until this season that his numbers stood out. Throughout his first three seasons, he averaged less than 10 points and three assists per game. During his final season, he averaged 21.4 and 5.3 and ranked 13th in the nation in scoring. Williams made leaps in nearly every area of his game, including free throws, steals and rebounds.
On top of his improved statistics, Williams said he felt that his leadership skills also developed.
“I knew going into this year, my leadership was going to play a big role in how the season would go. Before we even started the season, I kind of set everything in perspective and allowed myself to transition into being that guy,” he said. “I definitely had to refocus and allow myself to have a growth mindset where I was able to be a leader not just on the court but off the court as well.”
Williams’s teammates took note of his newfound ambition and said his influence led to much of the team’s success this year.
“His biggest role wasn’t to score, it just happened that way,” said junior guard Devon Begley. “His main role was to get other people involved, and once he got everyone else involved, everything opened up for him.”
This season, Williams’s style of play reminded Coen of another basketball player who is well-known for his determination and drive—Russell Westbrook. Coen was quick to acknowledge that Williams has a long way to go before reaching Westbrook’s level of skill, but he made comparisons between the two players’ ambition and physicality.
“[Williams and Westbrook] are big, physical guards who’ve got toughness and competitiveness, and those are all great traits,” Coen said. “I would say Russell is about as competitive as you get, and he’s a good guy to emulate.”
In addition to Westbrook, Williams was compared to some former Northeastern basketball greats throughout the season, like J.J. Barea and Reggie Lewis.
“It’s a blessing and an honor just to be able to be in the same category as those guys, and those guys are going to be talked about forever here,” Williams said. “For me to be in the category with those guys and for me to be able to accomplish something like that means the world to me, it really does. I don’t take it for granted, because it doesn’t happen just to anyone.”
What made Williams’s advancements so special was that they were self-motivated after an underwhelming junior year, Coen said.
“Last year he had a rocky junior year, and not because he was not talented, but because all his energies were not focused in the right direction,” Coen said. “He made a conscious decision to where he wanted to put his energies, and that just grew in the off-season… […] I think he used that adversity to re-channel his focus and re-dedicate himself to his dream.”
Begley said Williams’s increased role this season also stemmed from the absence of former Northeastern standouts like David Walker and Quincy Ford, who graduated last year.
“In the previous years, it was hard because we had David and Quincy, and they were like the big stars,” Begley said. “But once they left, T.J. kind of knew that he had to step up in order for us to be a good team, and I watched his mindset change and watched him eliminate most of the distractions.”
Williams echoed those sentiments, acknowledging that he put in more effort this year than in the past.
“If I could go back and change one thing from my incoming freshman year and my sophomore year, I feel like I would’ve approached every year like I did this last year,” he said. “That’s a more mature me speaking now than then, but if I could do it again, I would do that.”
In addition to his strong 2016-17 season, Williams will be etched in the history books for his role on the 2014-15 team that won the CAA championship and made a March Madness appearance.
“That was very special year for us, for the school, especially because we basically made history,” Williams said. “That will be a memory that Northeastern can forever remember, and it will be a memory in my life forever, and all those guys that were on that team.”
Looking ahead, Williams is set to appear at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in April, which is held for 64 of the top college seniors in the country and is attended by a number of NBA scouts and general managers.
“As of right now, I’m looking forward to working my tail off and putting as much work as I can in the gym, in the weight room, and trying to find anything and everything I can do to get better,” Williams said. “Being in the CAA, everybody on the outside looking in, they kind of brush the CAA to the side. I feel like they don’t really take it as seriously, and they really don’t know how much goes into what we do. It’s bigger than me, and I understand that.”
