Tulane Green Wave Freshman Quickly Turning Into Two-Way Dynamo

Coming into the 2024-25 college basketball season, Tulane Green Wave head coach Ron Hunter knew there would be some growing pains early on.

With so many new faces on the roster, it would take some time for everyone to gel and develop chemistry and cohesion.

In the early going, those road bumps have been evident.

After winning their first three games of the campaign, they have lost two out of their last three outings. Their first road game of the season against the Furman Paladins was a wire-to-wire loss.

In their most recent contest, they lost for the first time at Devlin Fieldhouse to the New Orleans Privateers in overtime. A late-game push to overcome a 12-point deficit fell just short in a 93-87 loss.

While there are still plenty of things for the team to work on, Hunter has to be ecstatic about what they have seen from freshman wing player Kam Williams.

He was a highly-touted recruit who quickly earned the trust of the coaching staff. Despite his youth, he is carrying himself like an experienced player and has supreme confidence in himself.

“I feel like I can do everything,” Williams said via Guerry Smith of NOLA.com. “Coach Hunter told me this summer I had to work hard, and I just put the work in. Most freshmen don’t get to play much for him, and I really didn’t want to be one of those freshmen.”

He has quickly become a player who is a major part of the rotation.

For the first time against New Orleans, he was in the starting lineup and responded with a big game, scoring 19 points with eight rebounds, one assist, four steals and one block.

Williams played all but three minutes against the Privateers and is locked into a major role.

Part of the reason he is on the court so much is how quickly he has picked up a complicated matchup defense scheme Hunter runs.

He has had some incredible highlight plays on the defensive end, with his block against the Alcorn State Braves following his turnover.

“I just didn’t want him to make it,” Williams said. “If I had turned it over and then he scored, it would have been very bad. I was probably coming out of the game.”

That kind of attitude and thought process is what separates him from other freshmen who have played under Hunter and struggled to get on the court. Defensive intensity is key, something that was lacking at times against New Orleans, who shot 50% from the field.

“Really we just have to keep our defensive intensity up,” he said prior to the matchup against their in-city rivals. “There were times in the game when our heads were low because they kept hitting shots.”

Williams is helping set the tone on that end with a team-high 13 steals to go along with five blocks, which is tied for the third most.

Offensively, he is third with 11 assists and fourth in total points.

It is going to be a lot of fun to see what he can do once he gains more experience as he is only scratching the surface of his potential.