Welcome to A10 Talk’s Preseason Top 25 Player Countdown for the 2018-19 season. Each day, we’ll be publishing a new article counting down our best 25 players for the coming season, as voted on by our staff of writers. Today, we feature #15 Eric Williams Jr. of Duquesne.
What He’s Done
Eric Williams Jr. has always been an underdog. At the start of his freshman season in high school, he stood only 5’7. He had zero division one offers, even though he was good enough to receive 1st team all-state and Class B player of the year and Macomb County Player of the Year in Michigan until he signed with Duquesne.
No one is doubting Williams Jr. this season after his phenomenal freshman campaign that landed him on the A-10 All-Rookie team. He averaged 33.7 minutes and 14.3 points per game, and was also a force on the glass, averaging 8.8 rebounds per game. His best game came against George Mason, where he scored 34 points on 9-15 shooting from deep, collected 11 rebounds, and led the Dukes to a double overtime win. After a 6-2 start to the conference season though, Duquesne’s momentum halted, and the team managed only one more win the rest of the season. Eric has shown that he can do a little bit of everything.
Along with his ability to crash the boards, he can dish