2003 Top 50 List: Yes
Dan Collins List: Yes
Jason Williams, what a player. I remember those Duke teams. You felt like you had no chance to beat them, and you were right. I especially remember the 2002 ACC Tournament final, which I was fortunate enough to attend. NC State was coming off a huge win over eventual national champion Maryland in the semifinal. Duke absolutely blew their doors off in a 91-61 win. That was actually closer than their previous meeting, a 108-71 Duke win. That 2002 Duke team was the only team in the 21 years of kenpom ratings to be both the best offensive and defensive team in the country. I still have no idea how they lost to Indiana in the Sweet 16. I had forgotten what happened at the end of that game. Duke was down by four, and Williams buried a three… and got fouled… and missed the free throw. Carlos Boozer got the rebound, probably got fouled on the putback but it wasn’t called, and that was the ballgame.
Here’s a stat. Williams played for three years. Guess what his record was against State, Carolina, and Wake? 23-1. I don’t know how I would prove this without a lot of painstaking manual work, but it’s hard to imagine that anybody else in ACC history had a .958 winning percentage against the rest of the Big Four.
Looking at Williams’ accolades, a couple of things stand out. He came in at the same time as UNC’s Joseph Forte, and through their first two years, I think you’d have to say that Forte was ahead by a nose. He edged out Williams 48-43 in ACC Rookie of the Year voting, and did a bit better in All-ACC voting as well. The next year, Williams, Forte, and Shane Battier were all unanimous first-team All-ACC, and they were the top three vote-getters for AP All-American as well. But Battier and Forte each received 32 votes for ACC Player of the Year, with Williams getting 8. In AP National Player of the Year voting, Williams and Forte finished tied for third behind Battier and Jamaal Tinsley of Iowa State. In Wooden Award voting, Williams and Forte finished second and third behind Battier.
In 2002, Forte was in the NBA and Williams won National Player of the Year. Williams did not, however, win ACC Player of the Year, as that honor went to Juan Dixon by a narrow margin.
To summarize, Williams was a two-time first team All-American and a National Player of the Year. For me, that means automatic Top 20. Williams is the only major conference player in college basketball with multiple 20+ point, 5+ assist seasons in the past 30 years. He never lost an ACC Tournament game. He is one of six freshmen to be named Most Outstanding Player of the ACC Tournament (the others are Phil Ford, Sam Perkins, Jerry Stackhouse, Brandan Wright, and Zion Williamson). He is one of six three-year players to reach 2,000 career points (the others are David Thompson, Len Chappell, Lennie Rosenbluth, Charlie Scott, and Dennis Scott).
It’s fascinating (if fruitless) to speculate about what Williams’ NBA career would have been like. He didn’t have a great rookie year, but you have to think that with his skill, athletic ability, and IQ, he would’ve eventually been an All-Star caliber player.