D.J. Williams transfers to George Washington
Best of luck to DJ, and I hope he finds success in the future. Not all that disappointed that he is leaving though. I'm not convinced he would been an important piece next year, and it opens up a needed scholarship.
You have to earn minutes. Groce and Walker were all about working hard, busting your tail, giving it your all. I think DJ is a good kid, has some talent but was not a great worker. He had moments throughout the year where he could have taken advantage of his minutes to earn more and never did. Can't fault Groce or Walker for that.
When you are given 5 minutes in a game as a non starting sophomore, you bust your tail for those 5 minutes. Then maybe you earn 7 the next game, followed by 10. DJ didn't take advantage, I wish he did.
Spot on. He seems like a good kid but he never was much of a contributor. A decent quality freshman or grad transfer could probably make as much or more of an impact this year as he did the last two years. We need to start getting some motored up athletes on the roster so that scholarship is like gold right now.
not that it matters at this point, but be careful what we ask for here.
- We aren't likely to need a scholarship at this point for 2017, 2018 hopefully we can use it
- Not hard to envision DJ as our back up 4 and lined up for 5 - 10 mpg. If you think we need both Finke & Black to play the 5, then Kipper is our only 4 left.
- We lose a lot of minutes at the 3 from Hill, DJ was one of our options, throw in Abrams & Morgan and it will be a lot of different/new players contributing this year. We need someone to step up this year, it could have been DJ, he was at least an option.
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My question is, why is he transferring? It's a clean slate with a new coach and in my opinion he should be excited for a chance to earn playing time.
My guess is that either Underwood was asking him to do or be something he can't or won't do or there is a clash of personalities. There has been a bit of time for them to get to know one another at this point. I don't know DJ or the situation, so am hesitant to proscribe any type of short-coming to the young man. It could be as simple as lack of fit. Hope he finds a place where he can excel.
The hype is more on us than him. He was a rail thin freshman and sophomore that came in behind a pretty good player in Malcolm Hill. Plenty of players don't make an impact until they are upper class; Tony Wysinger, Quinn Richardson, & Warren Carter are a few examples that come to mind. This was his year to see what he could do, unfortunately it won't be until next year with someone else to see if he can make the jump.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
All class. Well done.
Great post and comment. They will always Ben a part of the Illini family from my perspective.
I'm very confident that DJW and AJ not playing that much in the NIT had a lot more to do with Walker wanting to get the seniors minutes in their final games. Walker wasnt under pressure to win the NIT. Nor was really even coaching for his job. I also trust that any new coach would place his own evaluations on his inhereited roster over an assistant's. I don't see any realistic scenario where DJW wouldn't have gotten minutes for us this upcoming season.
As an assistant, you do not get many opportunities to coach as a HC, especially in post-season and NIT. It would have been a huge star in Walker's resume had he advanced further in the NIT, even more if he could win it. So it is definitely not the case that he just wanted to get the seniors more minutes. I have no idea what happened with DJW, he has not getting the minutes for pretty much all season, but it is definitely not that.
I would be shocked if this departure wasn't almost entirely based off his lack of motor and commitment to better the team and himself. Hate to talk poorly about him and I'm sure hes a good kid, but just the way this played out, over 2 (essentially 3) different regimes makes me think it is an underlying trait(s) that just never seemed to leave, dating back to high school.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Class, Well written, and heartfelt is all you can take out of this...Good Luck to DJ and the Williams family in the future.
Nobody said that Walker would have been promoted to HC, but advancing deep to the NIT, or winning it, would have been a huge star in Walker's resume. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Are we crazy here? Walker would have loved to coach the Illini deep into the NIT. There are not many assistants who get the opportunity to coach as HC into post-season, and if they do, they would all (not just Walker) try to make the best of it. They would not sacrifice their opportunity just to play the seniors.
If Walker had thought that playing DJW would have given him a better chance to win the game, and there were no other issues with DJW, he would have played DJW. This is not what happened with DJW.
RichBradIllini
- Peoria
Why are you putting this on Walker? Groce, with Walker at his side, didn't play him all year. Right or wrong, Walker didn't play DJ because, well...DJ.
Yes. DJW didn't play because DJW didn't do enough to earn any significant PT.
On an NIT level team. On a really good team he's nowhere to be found. Best decision for him and us.
Totally agree with this view. As a coach, you put the players on the floor, who you think gives the team the best opportunity to win that specific game. It makes no difference whether Coach Walker was or was not a candidate for the head coach of the U of I.
It would have been a huge star. You think that an assistant taking over in post-season and winning the NIT is not a big deal and would not matter to him? To the point that he would just play the seniors even if he would have had better chances of winning with other players? No coach would do that.
Also, your claim of playing the seniors out of tribute has little connection with reality. Walker did not play most of the seniors at all again UCF. Actually, Jaylon Tate, Mike Thorne, and Alex Austin did not play at all in the UCF game. Zero. Yet, even Aaron Jordan (same class as DJW) registered 11 mins despite going 0-3 and remaining scoreless. And Jordan has not really taken college basketball by storm with his performance this season compared to DJW. There are reasons that Walker did not play DJW but playing the seniors out of tribute against UCF and not caring about the outcome of the game is simply not that reason, and not supported with actual facts either.
I was impressed that DJW's family showed up at the banquet and appeared to put on a happy face, considering Underwood's decision (maybe it wasn't know at that time, but probably some storm warnings). Tate and family OTOH, not so much.
BTW, it was reported that Nichols body fat is now 5%.
BTW, it was reported that Nichols body fat is now 5%.
What happened with Tate at the banquet?
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Kept trying to take selfies but only ended up with shots of the floor and ceiling.
Dren1
- Glenview, IL
LOL, but that was a bit cold.