After Thad Matta and assistant coach Dave Dickerson finished speaking with their team Sunday afternoon following Ohio State’s 74-72 loss to Northwestern, the Buckeyes’ locker room went silent.
Kam Williams decided it could no longer stay that way, so Ohio State’s redshirt junior guard took it upon himself to deliver a message to his teammates.
“I just felt like something had to be said after a loss like that,” Williams revealed Tuesday. “We didn’t play well at all and I just felt like someone beyond the coaches had to step up and say something. If that’s the role I’m going to have to take going forward then I’m going to take it because ain’t no one else doing it. I feel like I can step up and be that vocal leader.”
The theme of Williams’ message to the team was rather simple, that the players have to look themselves in the mirror and decide whether or not they want to turn the season around. Ohio State is just 12-8 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten following that loss to the Wildcats and any momentum that was built from back-to-back wins over Michigan State and Nebraska was squandered Sunday afternoon at home.
Matta said he wasn’t surprised it was Williams who decided to say something even though the Baltimore native isn’t exactly known as a big talker.
“Kam cares, and he sort of echoed my sentiments to the team which was good to hear,” Matta said. “As I’ve said before, everybody can lead when things are good. I think Kam played through some injuries, he’s still banged up, but as I’ve said, he’s been in this program for a while now and I think he knows we have to play better and we can play better.”
Added freshman center Micah Potter: “It was definitely something that needed to be said. Just reiterating what he said, everybody’s gotta look themselves in the mirror because our biggest issue is just toughness and making sure that we’re prepared to play. We come out not ready to play, that’s a big issue and we’re going to lose every time.”
Ohio State took Monday off so the Buckeyes only have one day to prepare for their next game: Wednesday night at home against Minnesota. The Gophers won the first meeting between the two teams just a couple of weeks back, 78-68, in Minneapolis.
Whether or not Williams’ message resonated with his teammates remains to be seen, but it was something Ohio State’s sharpshooting guard felt needed to be said regardless.
“It’s different once you hear one of your own brothers say something to you other than mom or dad because they’ve been through what you’ve been through,” Williams said. “I just felt like for me to say something to the guys it was have not a different meaning but I guess a different meaning if you understand what I’m saying.”
“Hopefully, that benefitted us as a team and put us in the right direction.”
