In head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s preseason press conference Oct. 28, he said freshman center Mark Williams “is somebody we’ve never really had.”
And after what we saw from Williams in his first career start in Duke’s 76-54 win against Bellarmine Friday night, it’s safe to say Krzyzewski was right.
Williams made it clear right from the opening jump that he’s different from past Blue Devil big men, barely having to leave the ground as he tipped it back to Jordan Goldwire to begin the game. But it didn’t stop there.
On Bellarmine’s first offensive possession, the Knights tossed the ball inside to a wide open Dylan Penn, the team’s top returning scorer. But Williams quickly sprinted over, forcing Penn to turn his back, take an extra dribble in a desperate attempt to find an open look and eventually travel.
Two Knight possessions later, Williams registered his first collegiate block, smothering a Pedro Brashaw layup attempt. On Bellarmine’s next time down the floor, he recorded another block. Less than a minute later, Williams finished off the trifecta in style, swatting a Nick Thelen jumper out of bounds—à la a mini version of Zion Williamson on De'Andre Hunter—for his third block in as many possessions, all in the first four minutes of the game.
“He's one of the best shot blockers I've ever seen in person,” sophomore forward Matthew Hurt said. “Just knowing that he has my back so I can push up and contest more, because he's probably gonna block the shot, it makes a big difference for me and my teammates as well.”
But Williams showed that he’s far more than just a rim protector Friday.
On Duke’s first turn down the floor, Williams received the ball at the top of the key and tossed a beautiful touch pass over the defense to Hurt, who banked the easy lay-in.
On the Blue Devil possession right before he registered his third block, Williams got the ball in the paint and fired a cross-court pass to freshman guard DJ Steward, who drove in for the layup in what was officially recorded as an unassisted score.
That play is probably what best defined Williams’ performance Friday. The IMG Academy product finished with an impressive stat line of five points, three assists, seven rebounds and four blocks, but it wasn’t the numbers that stood out most.
Rather, it was the momentum-shifting plays Williams made throughout the night that truly exhibited how valuable he is to this Duke squad.
As Bellarmine started to make a run near the end of the first half, cutting its deficit to 30-25 with 1:40 to go before the break, Krzyzewski sent in his 7-footer. And he immediately made an impact.
On a missed Wendell Moore Jr. jumper with just over a minute to go before halftime, Williams used his 7-foot-4 wingspan to reach up and tap the loose ball directly to a wide open Goldwire, who drained the three to ensure the Blue Devils controlled the momentum as the period came to a close.
The Knights provided the first blow coming out of the locker room, however, in what looked to be the start of a second-half run similar to the ones that kept Coppin State in the game last Saturday and virtually clinched the game for Michigan State Tuesday.
But on Bellarmine’s next possession, Williams swatted a Bradshaw layup attempt for his fourth block of the game, and on the other end fired a perfect pass out of a double-team for a wide open Hurt three.
If that wasn’t enough, Williams misdirected a Penn jumper on the Knights’ ensuing possession, sprinted down the floor, grabbed the offensive board off a Jalen Johnson miss and hit the second-chance bucket to put the Blue Devils ahead 40-27.
The Blue Devils’ lead never fell below 13 points the rest of the night.
“He's a smart player, he’s ball-friendly,” Krzyzewski said. “He was able to keep some balls alive by knocking them out. What’d he get, like seven rebounds? But he knocked out a couple. You guys don't give him a rebound for that, do you?”
Mike DeGeorge, Duke’s executive director of communications, confirmed that those do count as rebounds.
“[If those counted] when I played, I might’ve been a double-double guy,” Krzyzewski said with a laugh, then paused and added, “No I wouldn't, because I would never score double-figure points.”
Jokes aside, Krzyzewski undoubtedly left Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday impressed with the performance of his young big man. The question remains, though, whether that will result in Williams receiving more playing time in the Blue Devils’ higher-profile matchups after he played only four minutes against the eighth-ranked Spartans.
It’s easy for a 7-footer to look good against a Bellarmine squad whose starting lineup consisted of nobody taller than 6-foot-7. But what about against No. 5 Illinois and its 7-foot, 285-pound center Kofi Cockburn? It’s hard to envision Williams tipping in a missed three with one hand while absorbing a foul, as he did Friday against the Knights, with a guy like Cockburn blocking him out.
Thus, it’s essential not to get too carried away by a performance against a team playing in its first Division I game. What we can say for sure, however, is that Krzyzewski was right when he said Williams is somebody Duke hasn’t really had—in a good way.
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