Senior night against Missouri and LSU’s road matchup against Florida on Saturday marked the official end of a shared five-year stint between LSU head coach Matt McMahon and forward KJ Williams.
Though McMahon has already experienced one departure from his long-time player at Murray State, it doesn’t seem like the second time will be any easier.
McMahon began recruiting Williams when the forward was just 16 years old. Williams spent most of his high school career going largely unnoticed. While he had a hazy idea of the Cleveland, Mississippi, native’s potential, it’s hard to imagine McMahon was expecting what would eventually come.
“We had high hopes for him when we signed him,” McMahon said on Williams out of high school. “I loved his versatility and ability at 6’9”. He grew another inch when he got to Murray State and continued to get stronger.”
Five full seasons of college basketball passed as McMahon watched Williams quickly develop into one of his most decorated players ever. Williams played a key role in two conference championships and NCAA Tournament wins with Murray State. He also topped 100 career wins with LSU’s win over Akron early this season and became the 123rd player in Division I college basketball history to attribute 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds in January against Tennessee.
He was trusted very early on at Murray State, logging 22 starts as a freshman and contributing heavily to the Racers’ upset victory over five-seeded Marquette in the NCAA Tournament, where he scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds. Williams only progressed from there; McMahon iterated that he hasn’t stopped improving since joining the roster in 2018.
“I thought it just got better every year,” McMahon said. “If you study the numbers, he’s shown consistent improvement from buying into the process and the hard work that’s required.”
That fact rings true; by his junior season, Williams doubled his freshman scoring production and led the Racers in scoring. This is due in large part to his continued improvement from beyond the arc, where he worked on increasing his efficiency and attempts in his sophomore and junior seasons.
As a senior, he’d add Ohio Valley Conference player of the year to his list of accolades, and he declared for the NBA Draft once the season concluded. At the same time, Williams tested the transfer portal. When a knee injury kept him from working out in front of NBA executives, Williams opted to use his extra year of eligibility to reunite with McMahon at LSU.
That gave Williams an opportunity to showcase what he could do at a higher level of competition. Though his field goal percentage took a slight hit in his lone season in the SEC, his continued improvement through his four seasons with the Racers has remained evident.
This season, Williams is averaging 17.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, numbers that aren’t far off from his OVC player of the year campaign. Most notably, he’s having the best season of his career from behind the arc, shooting 42% on the most attempts of his career. McMahon believes William’s three-point shooting is a big reason he could see success as a pro.
“I think as you look at the evolution of the game and the value of three-point shooting, you don’t see many traditional, back-to-the-basket post players in today’s game anymore,” McMahon said. “His ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter in addition to just all the things he can do will allow him to play this game for a long time.”
His three-point proficiency played a vital role in LSU’s victories over Wake Forest and Vanderbilt; the latter ended its 14-game losing streak. In each of those matchups, Williams put up 35 points; much of that production came down the stretch, when the team needed him most.
Unfortunately, those wins have been few and far between, with the Tigers struggling to figure things out this season. While Williams isn’t happy with the team’s struggles, he’s seen this season as an opportunity to improve his mental strength and character.
“I’ve been a part of great teams, average teams and mediocre teams, so it’s just another building block for me to learn from,” Williams stated. “It shows great character to just move on to the next important thing, and I think I did a great job of that.”
Williams and McMahon’s lone season at LSU may not have produced the same highs as their Ohio Valley Conference title campaign in 2022, but it gave them the opportunity to play one more season together. It has also allowed Williams to continue improving his game. McMahon may not be ecstatic to see Williams go, but he’s enjoyed watching the forward improve over the years and is excited to see what he can do moving forward.
“I think selfishly for me it’s just been a lot of fun to get to coach him and watch his growth and development over the years,” McMahon said. “While I know he would have liked to have done more winning this season, I think he’s really been able to create value for himself as he moves forward with his professional career.”
