Many sophomores in the Big Ten have a significantly greater role this season than they did as freshmen. That is to be expected, of course, as the second year is often when players make their biggest strides in development. Some highly-recruited guys, however, continue to disappoint, while others who may not have been so highly regarded have by now become viable contributors for their teams. This series of posts is meant to check in on a few of the different sophomores in the league to determine whether they’ve improved in their first year-plus and what it means for their teams going forward. Next up in the series is Indiana forward Troy Williams.
Troy Williams has played well after returning from a two-game suspension at the beginning of the season. (Chris Howell/Herald Times)
- 2013-14: 7.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 50.9% FG, 67.5 % FT, 21.5 MPG, 19.4% Usage, 100.1 Offensive Rating
- 2014-15: 12.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 57.6 % FG, 72.4 % FT, 23.9 MPG, 23.3% Usage, 119.0 Offensive Rating
Williams really hasn’t been mentioned much since his suspension for the first two games of the season along with fellow sophomore Stanford Robinson. As a result, his improved play has gone mostly unnoticed due to the hype surrounding freshmen James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson. His numbers are up across the board, though, and he’s been especially effective as this year’s team incorporates a good deal of their transition offense without the scourge of last season’s turnovers. Williams has also been really consistent, reaching double-figure scoring in all eight of his games and pulling down four rebounds or more in every game but one (the Hoosiers’ Jimmy V Classic loss to Louisville). He’s also cut the long jumpers out of his game in favor of more shots at the rim after making only 20.7 percent of his three-point attempts last season. This is the root cause of his significant jump in field goal percentage. He’s still flying around and making a lot of plays based on his athleticism, but this season he is doing so in a much more efficient manner.
It will be interesting to see if Williams continues to evolve over the next couple of seasons in Bloomington. Right now he’s playing the four, but he projects as a prototypical small forward in the NBA and already possesses professional-level athleticism. The key to his positional success will be whether he can develop his range out to three-point range. This season, with Indiana already carrying so many quality shooting options, all he needs to do is continue to rebound and finish easy plays around the basket and in transition. Indiana is currently 8-2 with a couple of solid wins over SMU and Pittsburgh and a damaging loss against Eastern Washington at home. Teams like Louisville, with big men who can rebound, really give the Hoosiers problems. In Big Ten play, Wisconsin and Michigan State will be particularly challenging, but the emergence of Williams along with the addition of their star freshmen at least give Indiana a fighter’s chance in the Big Ten race this year.