Tennessee Basketball: Grant Williams Deserves Player of the Year, Again
Tennessee Basketball forward Grant Williams single handily beat Vanderbilt Wednesday evening. The Volunteers defeated the Commodores 88-83 in overtime.
The junior put together a historic performance scoring 43 points along with eight rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and one steal. Williams also made 23-23 from the free throw line.
According to his bio, the 23 consecutive made free throws were the most made by a division one player in 60 years and second all-time.
Oklahoma State’s Arlen Clarke was the last division one player to do it on March 7, 1959, against Colorado.
Williams 43 points were the most scored by a Volunteer since Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer Allan Houston dropped 43 against LSU in 1990. In Tennessee’s history, the points also tied for 5th most by a Vol in a single game.
He is the only player in the SEC ranks in the leagues top-10 in three different categories. Williams ranks first in scoring with 18.8 points a game, seventh in rebounding with 7.9 a game and seventh in assists with 3.9 a game.
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Williams Deserves Player of the Year
He made a case for himself and why he should earn another SEC Player of the Year title along with a national player of the year award.
No one from Vanderbilt could stop him during Wednesday’s game. He ran up and down the court and owned it. His maturity on the court and leadership skills showed constantly.
At one point during the game, two players collided, and it looked like an altercation was about to happen.
Instead of allowing his teammates to get in the middle of it, he rallied and let the referees handle the other two players.
Williams won the SEC Player of the Year award last year as a sophomore.
Last season he averaged 15.2 points, six rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 blocks a game. To go break it down even further, let’s look through the first 18 games of his sophomore season.
Williams averaged 16.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, two assists, and 1.5 blocks a game. He also scored double-digit points in 29 of the 35 games.
Through the first 18 games of this season, he averages 20.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.6 blocks a game. He improved through every category, which makes his case even stronger.
Williams did everything in his power against Vanderbilt to make sure Tennessee won. He looked like a machine. If he continues at this pace, it is going to be hard not to give him player of the year.
He is currently on the midseason top-25 watch list for the 2019 John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year. Along with the 2019 initial 2019 Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year Award watchlist. Williams was also named to the 2019 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award watch list. He is one of the 21 players selected for that watch list.