Coming into the season, Pack fans had high hopes for sophomore guard C.J. Williams. After all, he had just wrapped up his freshman season where he turned it on in the final ten games, averaging almost six points per game while shooting over 50 percent from the field, including 45.8 percent from the three-point line.

And that momentum carried over into the summer and into the beginning of this season as Williams was slated as the opening starter at shooting guard this season. However, the guard from Fayetteville hit a bump in the road early on, as he was only able to average 5.1 points per game in his first 16 games as a starter. With the struggles for both Williams and the team as a whole offensively, coach Sidney Lowe felt a change was needed, and that came in the form of Williams moving to the bench, while redshirt senior Farnold Degand replaced him at the shooting guard spot.

Williams struggled to find his offensive stroke from the field coming off of the bench in the next 11 games, as he averaged only 1.2 points per game. But in the last four games, Williams has turned it on offensively, averaging 9.3 points per game, and has helped provide the Pack with a spark off the bench that has helped the team win three of the last four games to finish the regular season.

“C.J. has done a great job these past couple games,” junior Tracy Smith said. “His playing minutes went down a little bit, but he got back into the gym, started working harder and has stepped it up the past couple of games. He has made a big contribution to this team rebounding, passing the ball and scoring.”

During Williams’ struggles, the guard credits his lack of confidence in his game and especially his shot as a problem he faced. But after some soul searching and some extra work in the gym Williams is feeling confident and playing the best basketball of his career as a member of the Wolfpack.

“I have gotten a lot of confidence back and I feel like I can compete with anyone in this league,” Williams said. “I have prayed on it and talked to God and he told me to keep working. I have been in the gym a lot and that work has helped me to get my confidence back.”

When Williams is playing well, he adds in another dimension to the Pack offense, being that Williams is able to create for himself and get into the lane and attack the basket either putting up shots himself or freeing up his teammates. A skill set he showed off very well during the team’s season finale win against Boston College where Williams scored 14 points, including a huge dunk late in the game to help seal the victory.

“I thought we came out a little dead in the beginning and I knew if I was aggressive would be able to help my team open up other shots for people and if they stayed on them I would be open,” Williams said. “They have a lot of bigs that are strong and athletic. But when you attack the rim you go with reckless abandonment and hope for the best.”

Even with Williams’ past few big games, the guard is continuing to come off of the bench playing the sixth man role, but freshman Scott Wood believes Williams is able to bring that extra intensity to the team coming off of the bench.

“He is a good spark for us. When he can come in and knock down a few shots off the bench it definitely helps us,” Wood said. “It is just one of those things where we need someone to come off of the bench to step up or an extra starter to step up even more than they already had.”

Lowe credits Williams’ recent success to not trying to do too much in the game and staying within himself and playing his game.

“C.J. does exactly what we ask him to,” Lowe said. “But what he is doing now, is playing within himself. He isn’t trying to create too much and he has just been a huge lift for us these last few ballgames.”