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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — A slew of injuries have kept Colorado freshman Cody Williams from fully displaying why he’s a projected lottery pick for the upcoming NBA draft.
A fractured orbital bone, a wrist injury and an ankle issue have limited Williams, who is ranked No. 7 in ESPN’s draft ranking and is the highest NCAA player still playing in the tournament. Ahead of Sunday’s game against 2-seed Marquette, the forward told ESPN that he feels he has done the necessary work to show why he should be one of the first players off the board.
“I don’t really feel like I have anything to prove, just because I’ve already put in the work,” Williams said Saturday. “I’ve already done what I need to do, my due diligence in terms of working off the court, being prepared.
“So as long as I just stay focused on college basketball and just play my game, everything else in the future will kind of take care of itself.”
In Friday’s win over 7-seed Florida, Williams scored nine points in 25 minutes as the 10th-seeded Buffaloes won 102-100 thanks to a late jumper by guard KJ Simpson.
Williams, who is averaging 11.9 points on the season and is shooting 41% from behind the 3-point line, was on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team and was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of Perry (Gilbert, Arizona) High School.
Before conference play started, Williams missed seven games with a wrist injury, according to multiple reports. He returned for six games before suffering a fractured left orbital bone when he was elbowed during a practice ahead of Colorado’s Feb. 3 game against Utah, which he missed.
He had to wait a week for double vision and blurriness to subside. Williams was back on the court for a game against Arizona State on Feb. 8, a game he started.
The hardest part, the freshman said, was finding the right mask. The first one had a nose protector that was a bit too large. He consulted his brother Jalen, a forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder who broke his right orbital bone ahead of his rookie season in 2022, about staying focused. Saturday’s win over Florida was Cody Williams’ first game without wearing the mask.
“I could just see my peripherals better, kind of see the court better without having a mask on my face,” Williams told ESPN. “So it just feels back to normal.”
Still, Williams is trying to get back into the swing of things. He missed four games with the ankle injury and wasn’t cleared until the Pac-12 tournament opener on March 14 against Utah. After starting every game so far this season, Williams has come off the bench in the past five contests.
However, his workload has seen an uptick. The 25 minutes he played against Florida were his highest total since before he was hurt.
Williams had the in-bounds play on Simpson’s winning shot against the Gators. Colorado coach Tad Boyle praised Williams’ ability to be patient until Simpson could shake free to receive the ball before his controversial game-winner with just over a second left.
“KJ wasn’t originally open and then he came back to him,” Boyle said after the win.
The tournament games in Indianapolis feature some of the college game’s top players. Marquette guard Tyler Kolek entered the postseason as the NCAA’s assist leader. Purdue center Zach Edey is the reigning national player of the year and is positioned to repeat that honor.
But Williams carries the highest pro stock. Marquette coach Shaka Smart called him a “ridiculous talent” and praised how Williams has handled his current role following the injury.
“The fact that he’s coming off the bench right now when he started the majority of games before he got hurt says a lot about who he is and the fact that he’s about the team and about winning,” Smart said.
And that’s all the Colorado freshman is concerned with ahead of Sunday’s game against the Golden Eagles that could send the Buffaloes to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985.
“Right now, the only thing I’m thinking about is enjoying this moment,” Williams said. “Obviously, you do that by winning and advancing to the next game. I also understand this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”