Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Point Taken?
Via the HuskyBlog, an article on Marcus Williams. (Via the Seattle Times, an article about a different Marcus Williams).Last season Marcus was declared academically ineligible. As a result, he missed the Huskies' run through the NCAA Tournament. Despite his teammates' success, Marcus won't receive a championship ring.
If Williams is bitter about this, it does not show.
The sophomore guard responded with a solid spring semester academically and has emerged as the man most likely to take the ball when the Huskies begin defense of their national championship.
He seems determined to seize the opportunity.
But will he? Matt Eagan's report is favorable, but I find plenty of cause for concern. First, Marcus struggled last year when trying to run the offense in slow-tempo games. Second, his academic troubles cost him valuable experience in big-time tournament games. Third, the challenge to his starting spot posed by Freshmen A.J. Price and Antonio Kellogg will be a constant distraction. If he falters early and is replaced by either freshman for even a half, I'm not confident Marcus has the maturity to respond appropriately.
