Des Moines, Iowa — Howard senior Jelani Williams and the rest of his teammates made it clear on Wednesday morning that they were eager for the challenge of facing top-seeded Kansas on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament.
The fact that the matchup — 1 p.m. on TBS from Wells Fargo Arena — will come on the five-year anniversary of the first and still-only time a No. 16 seed upset a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance certainly adds to their excitement. But for Williams the chance to take down a top dog is nothing new.
Howard (22-12) played at Kentucky earlier this season — losing 95-63 in Lexington — and Williams actually has experience playing against Kansas in the past.
Sort of.
When he was a freshman during the 2017-18 season, he was a part of the Penn team that played KU in the 1-16 game in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, which the Jayhawks won 76-60.
He didn’t play in that game, out for the season with an injury, but he lit up when asked about the experience on Wednesday.
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The rosters have changed and Kansas is a different team than that bunch, which made the Final Four behind veteran guards Devonte’ Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk and Malik Newman. But the coaching staff and overall philosophy of Kansas basketball remain the same.
“Not to give away too much of our game plan, but I definitely remember that game,” Williams said Wednesday. “We played them pretty tough. (I’m) excited to get a rematch and hope to come out with a win this time.”
Playing without injured big man Udoka Azubuike, Kansas led by just seven at the half in that one before pulling away in the second half.
That was the first of four consecutive seasons of not playing for Williams at Penn. He missed 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 because of three separate ACL tears. And then missed the 2020-21 season when the Ivy League canceled all winter sports because of COVID-19.
His first action as a college athlete came during the 2021-22 season and he averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 25 appearances.
From there, he transferred to Howard, in his hometown of Washington D.C., where he started 16 games and averaged 9.2 points per game while shooting 34.2% from 3-point range.
Asked if he had tapped into his 6-foot-5, 201-pound senior’s past knowledge of Kansas, Howard coach Kenneth Blakeney said he was unaware that Williams had seen the Jayhawks before.
“I didn’t even know that happened,” Blakeney said with a smile. “It’s a different team (at Kansas now) and certainly with the way college basketball goes now with players being one-and-done, two-and-dones, the rosters change. I know this year’s (KU) team is different than last year’s Kansas team. The thing that we can look at is the style of play from how Coach Self has taken advantage of the players he’s had there and put them in a position for success. That’s the thing that’s been consistent. I think that we can look at that and evaluate as we’re trying to prepare for this game.”
