Kenny Williams: UNC gets the Shooter it Needs
Kenny Williams of Chesterfield, VA committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels back on May 2nd. Williams is a four star shooting guard who stands 6’3”. He originally committed to Shaka Smart at Virginia Commonwealth. When Smart left for Texas, Williams opened up his recruitment.
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It was the biggest recruiting news that happened to North Carolina in the last week, but it easily qualifies as the most important. After losing Brandon Ingram to Duke and watching Jaylen Brown go to California, Williams was a sorely needed consolation price.
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So what will Williams do for the Heels? What have 6’3” guards named Williams ever done for the Heels. Twenty three years ago Donald Williams won the NCAA Championship and the Most Valuable Player in the Final Four. He also was part of the Stackhouse-Wallace team that went to the Final Four in 1995. He was depended on to shoot.
Shammond Williams was on that 1995 team and became an important part of two more Final Four runs in 1997 and 1998. Williams bridged the gap between Coach Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge. He was 6’3” and shot threes.
The Tar Heels have been looking to find shooting help in order to free some of the pressure off of rising senior Marcus Paige. Teams have been comfortable collapsing the middle against the Heels and daring anyone but Paige to shoot it from beyond the arc.
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This past season saw the Heels occasionally have a hot hand from the arc, as Nate Britt, Joel Berry, and Justin Jackson all went on scoring streaks. They were just as often cold as they were hot, and teams still knew that Paige would take the big shots.
Kenny Williams offers the Tar Heels that shooter at the two that have lacked since Wayne Ellington and maybe Harrison Barnes were on the team. He can help space the floor and become a bail out option for Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks inside. The Heels are a little more dangerous today than they were a few days ago.