Illinois Basketball: Evaluating the non-conference for Da’Monte Williams

Illinois basketball fans had a pleasant surprise last season with Da’Monte Williams breaking out from three-point range.

Williams is one of the elders on the team, as he is now a fifth-year super senior thanks to the COVID-19 rules put into place by the NCAA. With Williams returning this season, the Illini now have more depth in the lineup.

I had pretty high expectations for Williams considering he is one of our oldest players, and he has been through a lot with this program. He also shot well last year, so I wanted that again for his final run with the team.

Williams hasn’t been what I thought he could be for the Illinois basketball program.

Shooting Off

Something clicked with Williams last season. He went from hitting just 28.3% of his three-pointers to 54.7%. That is a tremendous jump and one that isn’t usually a fluke.

But it looks like Williams’ great shooting from deep did end up being a fluke. He entered this season doing the same thing from outside and finding his spot, but he has failed to hit his three-pointers with any consistency.

Williams is only hitting 30.4% of his three-point shots this season. That is not a good number. He is also averaging around his career average of 3.6 points per game, which is down from last year’s 5.5 points per game.

Career Highs

While the non-conference hasn’t been kind to Williams in the scoring department, he has hit career highs in other statistical categories.

Williams has bumped his rebounding up to 5.6 rebounds per game from 5.3 rebounds per game last season. His role has slightly changed this year as well. Williams is more of a distributor this year, as he is now averaging 3.4 assists per game. That is double his 1.7 assists per game from last season.

Overall

I can’t sugarcoat things, I have been disappointed with Williams this season. My expectations were probably a little high, but man, I feel like Williams has taken a step back.

While Williams is averaging a career-high in rebounds and assists, he is also averaging a career-high in fouls and turnovers. Williams is also shooting a career-low at the free throw line and from the field.

Illinois is playing well right now, but just imagine what the program would be if Williams was playing well. I hope Big Ten play is different because Williams’ non-conference was kind of rough.