Three New Year’s resolutions for Louisville athletics

Get Sam Williamson into gear

A former McDonald’s All-American himself, Sam Williamson has lost the early spunk he gained in the early stages of the 2020 season. Many have already begun to count Williamson out, calling him the next failed “burger boy” to come up short in the college ranks.

But should we give up on Williamson just 36 games in to his college career? Well, probably not. The criticism has been fair, but there is no doubting the gifts he brings to the basketball court.

A long, athletic scorer like Williamson should be able to thrive in college ranks. I would go as far as to call him an elite mid-range player on offense.

After scoring 17 points in game one, Williamson was injured against Seton Hall after racing to a decent start that looked like he would hit double figures for his second straight game.

Then he dislocated his toe and has just looked a step behind since his return against Wisconsin where the team was blown out and he only contributed 7 points in the effort without Carlik Jones.

Williamson did sandwich in a 14-point, 12-rebound performance against Pitt before seemingly disappearing against Kentucky in one of the biggest games of the year once again (4 points on 2-for-8 shooting).

For as talented as he is, he should be a top three player on this basketball team every single night and – on some occasions – he should be able to take over the game and lead the team to victory. That simply has not happened for the former five-star.

Our second New Year’s resolution… get the talented sophomore going and get him going permanently.