TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – On the day after the University of Cincinnati Bearcats lost their season opener against Ohio State, UC coach Mick Cronin made a change at practice, switching Keith Williams to the first team and moving senior Cane Broome to the second.
Williams, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard from Brooklyn, wasn't sure what to make of it. He hadn't started any games during his freshman year and he didn't start against the Buckeyes. He wondered if the move was meaningful or if it was just Cronin doing some tinkering.
Nearly a week passed before the Bearcats were scheduled to play their second game against North Carolina Central and Williams was still with the first team. Finally, on the day of the NC Central game, he asked Mark Berger, assistant to the head coach, if he was going to start. When Berger told him that he was, Williams' first thought was, "I know I'm going to have to play my hardest out there."
Williams made the most of his opportunity. In his first career start, he scored 15 points with four rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots, two steals and 12 deflections. He has started every game since then, increasing his scoring average to 10.7 and is shooting 48.8 percent from the field. He scored a career-high 16 points in UC's win over Xavier last Saturday.
Williams arrived at UC last year with sterling credentials. He was a four-star prospect who had averaged 22.2 points and 10.6 rebounds as a senior at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He naturally figured when he got to UC, which he chose over Oklahoma State, his scoring would earn him playing time. It took awhile for him to figure out that he had it all wrong. It wasn't scoring that would get him on the floor, but defense and rebounding.
He played in 33 games as a freshman, but averaged only 3.1 points in 9.8 minutes per game. He shot 38.5 percent from the field and made only four of 27 from three-point range. He was such a non-factor that it was hard to recognize the abundant athleticism he possessed.
"I didn't think it would be like that," Williams said. "I'm glad, though, that it happened because it helped me. Without that I don't think I'd be playing well right now. It helped me to go through adversity and helped me prepare for right now. It humbled me a lot.
"I used to get crazy calls (from back home), but I would try to speak to Jacob (Evans) and (Gary) Clark and Justin (Jenifer) and Tre (Scott). They said, just wait, stay patient, trust the process. I was just like, OK, stay the course. I just had to change my approach to it. This year, I changed my mindset, I'm going to play my hardest on both ends of the floor where he can't deny me. Now I'm just like, you have to play me."
His new approach worked just the way he hoped it would. He earned the starting position, Cronin said, because of his ability to rebound and defend, leaving the smaller Broome to use his offensive skills to give the Bearcats a lift off the bench.
"There were some times last year when I'm sure he had self-doubt if he was ever going to turn into the player that he wants to be," said associate head coach Darren Savino, who recruited Williams. "Most kids today, they quit, they transfer, but he decided to keep working and try to improve.
"He's able to utilize his tremendous athleticism to translate into the game, whether it's on defense or whether he sees a gap and he puts his head down and he explodes to the basket for a dunk or drive. Just because you're a good athlete doesn't mean you can effectively use it in a game."
Williams grew up in the rough Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and saw a lot of kids his age make poor life decisions. He credits his parents, Yvette and Keith Williams, Sr., for not allowing him to make similar decisions. The youngest of four – he has two brothers and a sister – he's the only one of the four who played sports. He started out playing basketball and slow-pitch softball, the latter of which he admits to almost apologetically.
He never played baseball because the pitches were thrown too hard and wasn't interested in football because he didn't want to get hurt. Besides, his parents wouldn't let him play anyway.
He fell in love with basketball, which fit him perfectly. His interest in UC was heightened because fellow New Yorkers Sean Kilpatrick, Lance Stephenson and Kenny Satterfield had played there.
"I talked to Kenny Satterfield and he said it would be a great fit for me," Williams said.
It didn't seem so great last year while Williams struggled to figure out how use his talent to get significant playing time.
"There were times when I was scared to turn it over or miss a shot," Williams said. "It was just so hard last year. My head was all over the place. I was so indecisive. It was the worst time of my life. I'm glad that's over with."
Williams says that as a starter he can get into the flow of the game from the tipoff. He plays in a comfort zone now, not afraid to let his ability carry him. As Savino said, he still has a lot to learn about the finer points of the game, but he has shown he's willing to learn.
"Young players get better when they work hard," Cronin said. "You've got to give them a chance. He's got great energy. He loves basketball. He comes to practice every day and works really hard. You don't have to ever get on Keith about his energy level. You've got to continue to coach his fundamentals and he'll just continue to get better."
Williams is smart enough to know he still has a lot to learn. But he also realizes he has the tools to be an impact player at UC for the next few years.
"I can do tons of things," he said. "I can defend, rebound, block shots. I can score. My three-point shot, I don't know what's going on now, but it's going to come. Once that starts to fall, everything else is going to take off."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at the Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – On the day after the University of Cincinnati Bearcats lost their season opener against Ohio State, UC coach Mick Cronin made a change at practice, switching Keith Williams to the first team and moving senior Cane Broome to the second.
Williams, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard from Brooklyn, wasn't sure what to make of it. He hadn't started any games during his freshman year and he didn't start against the Buckeyes. He wondered if the move was meaningful or if it was just Cronin doing some tinkering.
Nearly a week passed before the Bearcats were scheduled to play their second game against North Carolina Central and Williams was still with the first team. Finally, on the day of the NC Central game, he asked Mark Berger, assistant to the head coach, if he was going to start. When Berger told him that he was, Williams' first thought was, "I know I'm going to have to play my hardest out there."
Williams made the most of his opportunity. In his first career start, he scored 15 points with four rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots, two steals and 12 deflections. He has started every game since then, increasing his scoring average to 10.7 and is shooting 48.8 percent from the field. He scored a career-high 16 points in UC's win over Xavier last Saturday.
Williams arrived at UC last year with sterling credentials. He was a four-star prospect who had averaged 22.2 points and 10.6 rebounds as a senior at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He naturally figured when he got to UC, which he chose over Oklahoma State, his scoring would earn him playing time. It took awhile for him to figure out that he had it all wrong. It wasn't scoring that would get him on the floor, but defense and rebounding.
He played in 33 games as a freshman, but averaged only 3.1 points in 9.8 minutes per game. He shot 38.5 percent from the field and made only four of 27 from three-point range. He was such a non-factor that it was hard to recognize the abundant athleticism he possessed.
"I didn't think it would be like that," Williams said. "I'm glad, though, that it happened because it helped me. Without that I don't think I'd be playing well right now. It helped me to go through adversity and helped me prepare for right now. It humbled me a lot.
"I used to get crazy calls (from back home), but I would try to speak to Jacob (Evans) and (Gary) Clark and Justin (Jenifer) and Tre (Scott). They said, just wait, stay patient, trust the process. I was just like, OK, stay the course. I just had to change my approach to it. This year, I changed my mindset, I'm going to play my hardest on both ends of the floor where he can't deny me. Now I'm just like, you have to play me."
His new approach worked just the way he hoped it would. He earned the starting position, Cronin said, because of his ability to rebound and defend, leaving the smaller Broome to use his offensive skills to give the Bearcats a lift off the bench.
"There were some times last year when I'm sure he had self-doubt if he was ever going to turn into the player that he wants to be," said associate head coach Darren Savino, who recruited Williams. "Most kids today, they quit, they transfer, but he decided to keep working and try to improve.
"He's able to utilize his tremendous athleticism to translate into the game, whether it's on defense or whether he sees a gap and he puts his head down and he explodes to the basket for a dunk or drive. Just because you're a good athlete doesn't mean you can effectively use it in a game."
Williams grew up in the rough Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and saw a lot of kids his age make poor life decisions. He credits his parents, Yvette and Keith Williams, Sr., for not allowing him to make similar decisions. The youngest of four – he has two brothers and a sister – he's the only one of the four who played sports. He started out playing basketball and slow-pitch softball, the latter of which he admits to almost apologetically.
He never played baseball because the pitches were thrown too hard and wasn't interested in football because he didn't want to get hurt. Besides, his parents wouldn't let him play anyway.
He fell in love with basketball, which fit him perfectly. His interest in UC was heightened because fellow New Yorkers Sean Kilpatrick, Lance Stephenson and Kenny Satterfield had played there.
"I talked to Kenny Satterfield and he said it would be a great fit for me," Williams said.
It didn't seem so great last year while Williams struggled to figure out how use his talent to get significant playing time.
"There were times when I was scared to turn it over or miss a shot," Williams said. "It was just so hard last year. My head was all over the place. I was so indecisive. It was the worst time of my life. I'm glad that's over with."
Williams says that as a starter he can get into the flow of the game from the tipoff. He plays in a comfort zone now, not afraid to let his ability carry him. As Savino said, he still has a lot to learn about the finer points of the game, but he has shown he's willing to learn.
"Young players get better when they work hard," Cronin said. "You've got to give them a chance. He's got great energy. He loves basketball. He comes to practice every day and works really hard. You don't have to ever get on Keith about his energy level. You've got to continue to coach his fundamentals and he'll just continue to get better."
Williams is smart enough to know he still has a lot to learn. But he also realizes he has the tools to be an impact player at UC for the next few years.
"I can do tons of things," he said. "I can defend, rebound, block shots. I can score. My three-point shot, I don't know what's going on now, but it's going to come. Once that starts to fall, everything else is going to take off."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at the Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.