Alondes Williams took the ACC by storm during the 2021-22 season. When Williams committed to Wake Forest, after two seasons with Oklahoma, the combo guard was viewed as a solid, perhaps underrated, addition.
Now, Williams, who was named ACC Player of the Year, will enter the 2022 NBA Draft. Williams made the announcement on his Twitter account.
Juco Champ🥇… ACC POY🎩🏆… NBA DRAFT🙇🏾♂️🙏🏾‼️ #31 out✌🏾 love ya Deacon Nation🖤🤎🎩 and @WakeMBB pic.twitter.com/GTE9BbXBJY
— Alondes Williams (@moneymanman31) April 4, 2022
As soon as the season started, it was obvious that Steve Forbes and the Demon Deacons had something much more grand than an extra perimeter creator. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard overpowered opponents with his speed and strength. When opponents shifted their defensive attention to Williams, he used his brilliant craft and creativity as a passer to hit teammates for high-percentage looks.
Williams started all 35 games this season for Wake Forest, which narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 18.5 points (No. 2 ACC), 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists (No. 1 ACC) per game.
At times this season, it felt impossible to keep Alondes Williams out of the lane. According to Bart Torvik’s shot data, Williams was 166-of-249 on attempts at the rim (66.7 FG%); close to 73 percent of his makes at the rim came unassisted.
A year ago, Alondes Williams + Jake LaRavia played for different programs. In the span of a few months, they've become one of the most dynamic duos in the country — more on how Wake Forest utilizes Williams + LaRavia, including two-man actions and post-ups https://t.co/cZjXujeUHZ
— Brian Geisinger (@bgeis_bird) February 22, 2022
Williams was an exceptionally busy player, too. He finished Top 5 in this ACC in both usage rate (29.8 percent) and assist rate (31.0 percent).
After a hot start, his accuracy tailed off from downtown. Williams finished the season shooting just 28.4 percent on 3-point attempts; however, there was at least some volume (141 3PA) to speak of.
Williams and Jake LaRavia, another transfer, formed one of the top 1-2 punches in the country. Together, those two helped usher in a new era of Wake Forest basketball.
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