Taking a look back and some of the articles we wrote about Tennessee sophomore Grant Williams, they seem to all have one common theme…don't look at his size, look at his production. We provided titles like, 'You Can't Measure Heart', 'Playing With An Edge' and 'Something To Prove…'.
Grant Williams Goes for a Career High Scoring Output in the SEC win over Vanderbilt
Even back then it was apparent, current Tennessee sophomore Grant Williams was vastly under-recruited because of his size. However, it was always known, Grant bet on himself, 'Grant Williams always wanted to play at the highest level. He believed in himself simply because he always gave the intangibles and played with an edge. For the naysayers concerning Williams, don't be too quick to judge.'
During his rookie season at Tennessee, Williams averaged 24.4 minutes per game while finishing with 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 54% from the floor
and collecting SEC All-Rookie 1st Team Honors. This season Williams picked up right where
he left off, and then some.
It is great, the timing of it all. Fellow North Carolina native PJ Tucker just signed a 4 year/$31,878,148 contract with the Houston Rockets. Notre Dame senior Bonzie Colson came into this year as a pre-season 1st team All-American. These are the two players who most closely resemble Williams (it is worth noting that PJ Tucker also from North Carolina, played, for now, Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes at Texas). So Tennessee sophomore Grant Williams' visibility is coming at a time where his success isn't as far-fetched as it once may have been.
In last night's win over SEC league opponent Vanderbilt, Tennessee sophomore Grant Williams finished with a career-high 37 points on 12-20 from the field and 13-15 from the free throw line. This is right in line with his team-leading 16 points per game average for the #24 ranked Tennessee Volunteers. What may surprise some is that Williams is also averaging 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots per game.
The hot take from this article, the entire point for writing it is to say…Don't be surprised for 6'6' power forward Grant Williams to be All-SEC 1st Team this year, to end up being named SEC Player of the Year and to get drafted in the NBA.
