When Illinois point guard Frank Williams takes the court Fridayagainst San Diego State, he will bring three familiar words with him:dribble-drive penetration.
The junior point guard comes into Friday’s Midwest first-roundmatchup against No. 13-seeded SDSU (21-11) as one of the most highlytouted point guards in the nation. Already, Williams announced beforethe season began that he would leave the Fighting Illini (24-8) afterthe season for the NBA.
“I talked to my coach and my family,” Williams said to theAssociated Press in October. “And we decided that one more yearwouldn’t hurt.”
Williams made the decision after coming off a season in which hehelped lead his team to 27 wins in head coach Bill Self’s first yearat Illinois. Three of those 27 wins came in the Midwest Region of theNCAA Tournament, including a blowout 16-point win over Kansas.
The team’s run ended in the Midwest final with a six-point loss tothe NCAA runner-up, Arizona.
After going so far last year, Illinois raised the bar and had highexpectations this year. Williams was named a preseason First-TeamAll-American and the team was ranked No. 2 in a preseason poll.
But the team got off to a slow start — at least by the standardsof the media. The Illini had early wins over tournament teams Gonzagaand Penn, but eeked out of the gate in the Big Ten Conference at 4-5and were just 15-7 overall.
Williams wasn’t off to a good start, hitting 36 percent of hisfield-goal attempts through eight games. He soon became the focalpoint of the team’s criticism, something Self thought was unfair.
“I think Frank is a stand-up guy,” Self said. “It’s maybe a littleunwarranted that he took heat for the team. The coaches should takethe heat, but he handled it well.”
While the team wasn’t playing up to its expectations on the court,Self said it refused to fall apart off the court. After the 4-5league start, which included three straight losses, Illinois ran offnine straight wins before losing to Ohio State in the conferencesemifinals.
“We had a heck of a year,” Self said. “Our expectations were high,but we’re not disappointed. Our guys stuck together and didn’t pointfingers.”
While Williams (15.8 points, 4.4 assists) finished the yearshooting a paltry 38 percent from the field, he relied on a strongsupporting cast for help.
Six-foot-11-inch center Robert Archibald (10.7 points, 5.4rebounds) and Brian Cook (13.2 points, 6.8 rebounds) lead a solidfront court.
“Robert Archibald is a tough, physical player with a lot ofemotion,” SDSU’s Randy Holcomb said. “Cook is more of a finesse guy,shoots the ball well. He’s a guy that I’m looking forward to matchingup with.”
The team will also look to Williams’ backcourt-mate, senior CoryBradford (11.2 points), for a scoring boost. Earlier this season,Bradford had a streak of 88 straight games with a 3-pointer madesnapped.
“They are very athletic,” SDSU head coach Steve Fisher said. “Theyare a legit-
imate Final Four-caliber team.
“They are arguably the second best team we’ve played this year(behind Duke).”
It doesn’t stop with the big four, either. Senior Damir Krupalijaaveraged 7.6 points per game in 18 games and junior Sean Harringtonadded six points.
But if it comes down to the wire, Fisher said Williams would bethe one counted upon.
“Frankie Williams is a headliner,” Fisher said. “He has the ballwhen they desperately need something to happen.”
