Syracuse Basketball: Benny Williams’ season over, SU career just starting

If I was asked to sum up the freshman season of Syracuse basketball forward Benny Williams, two things would immediately stick out.

One is the ridiculous reverse layup Williams engineered in the team’s recent home loss to top-10 Duke, as the Orange freshman registered his best output of the 2021-22 campaign in an encounter with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s premier group.

The second is following a mid-January setback by the ‘Cuse at the hands of Florida State, Williams didn’t see the court at all. But after the game, Williams was nonetheless hard at work, putting up some shots and honing his craft.

My first example about Williams here signifies, to me, the stellar potential that he possesses. I believe that he will shine as a sophomore, much like other recent Orange players such as Dion Waiters and Michael Carter-Williams did in making huge leaps from their freshmen to sophomore stanzas in Central New York.

More importantly, at least to me anyway, my second example noted in this piece clearly illustrates Williams’ work ethic and overall character.

When Williams rode the bench that entire contest versus the Seminoles in January, he wasn’t whining about it afterward. He was putting in work.

Syracuse basketball forward Benny Williams has endured a challenging freshman term.

Williams, a really likable young man, arrived on the Hill as one of the highest-rated recruits within the Orange program in recent seasons. The Bowie, Md., native suited up at the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., before coming to the ‘Cuse, and I feel that expectations for him as a Syracuse basketball newbie were perhaps a bit overinflated.

What I mean by that is, a lot of Orange fans whom I would interact with on social media and in chat rooms believed that, given Williams’ high recruiting rankings on a national scale within the 2021 cycle, he would prove some kind of savior for the team in his freshman stint.

Well, that didn’t occur, and as head coach Jim Boeheim has accurately noted more than once of late, Benny Williams isn’t the only highly rated freshman across the country to not have a big-time impact or play big-time minutes in his first season for a high-major squad during the 2021-22 campaign.

As Syracuse basketball (15-15, 9-10) was set to close out its regular season on Saturday afternoon versus Miami at the Carrier Dome, SU Athletics announced earlier this week that Williams would miss the remainder of the 2021-22 stanza due to a lower-body injury suffered this past Monday evening when the Orange fell in overtime to North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Williams is “expected to make a full recovery,” according to a statement on cuse.com, with media reports suggesting he may need about four to six weeks to fully recover.

So Williams’ freshman season on the Hill is done. Per ESPN statistics, he played in 29 games, averaging 10.8 minutes, 1.9 points and 1.4 rebounds a contest. Williams connected on 33.9 percent from the field, 61.9 percent from the free-throw line and 9.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Regardless of those numbers, Benny Williams showed flashes of athleticism, talent and potential in his freshman term with the ‘Cuse. His work ethic is great, and he boasts integrity.

More playing time should be there for him in 2022-23, when Syracuse basketball could have a relatively young roster, and Williams will likely be a focal point in Boeheim’s rotation.

Sure, the 2021-22 stanza wasn’t exactly what we all had hoped for in Williams’ freshman year, but I for one admire and respect this young man. I’m rooting for Benny Williams to shine when he again dons an Orange uniform on the court in an official capacity down the line.