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2015-16 Texas Tech basketball grades: Devaugntah Williams

By Matthew Conner

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With the Texas Tech basketball season complete, now is a natural time for reflection. Today we continue handing out 2015-16 season grades as we examine the season of senior guard Devaugntah Williams.

One of my favorite professors at Texas Tech, Dr. Carl Anderson, was famous for teaching his classes that inconsistency is a crazy-maker. While Dr. Anderson almost always issued this line in regards to parenting styles, his words hold true for the 2015-16 performance of Texas Tech basketball’s Devaugntah Williams whose propensity for following scoring outbursts with extended periods of unproductive play drove Texas Tech basketball fans mad.

Williams came to Texas Tech in 2014 as a junior college transfer from Missouri State-West Plains. He was expected to be the dynamic scoring threat Tubby Smith had been without in his first season at the helm of the Texas Tech basketball program.

In his final JUCO season, Devaugntah Williams averaged 17.8 points per game. This scoring ability brought interest from Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State but Williams decided to head to Lubbock.

As a Red Raider, Williams’ career would be defined by unexplainable inconsistency. On some nights he would score 20 points or more and then go three games before reaching double figures again.

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At the start of this season, Williams looked to have put that trend behind him. He put up double figures in 11 of Texas Tech’s first 13 games including a season-high 26 in the year’s first game against High Point.

However, in Big 12 play Williams drove fans and his coaches crazy with his inconsistent play. His lack of dependability eventually led to his demotion from the starting lineup in favor of sophomore Justin Gray.

Williams began the conference season with 23 huge points as Texas Tech defeated the Texas Longhorns in Lubbock. But he followed that game up with three ineffective games in which he scored 10, 4 and 8 points in three consecutive Texas Tech losses.

All season, Devaugntah Williams was a wild card. Texas Tech never could count on him to be a consistent scorer and if Williams was not scoring points he was not very useful to the team. As a below average defender and an average ball handler, Williams was called upon to do one job, score points and when he did not do that his team struggled.
With the Texas Tech basketball season complete, now is a natural time for reflection. Today we continue handing out 2015-16 season grades as we examine the season of senior guard Devaugntah Williams.

One of my favorite professors at Texas Tech, Dr. Carl Anderson, was famous for teaching his classes that inconsistency is a crazy-maker. While Dr. Anderson almost always issued this line in regards to parenting styles, his words hold true for the 2015-16 performance of Texas Tech basketball’s Devaugntah Williams whose propensity for following scoring outbursts with extended periods of unproductive play drove Texas Tech basketball fans mad.

Williams came to Texas Tech in 2014 as a junior college transfer from Missouri State-West Plains. He was expected to be the dynamic scoring threat Tubby Smith had been without in his first season at the helm of the Texas Tech basketball program.

In his final JUCO season, Devaugntah Williams averaged 17.8 points per game. This scoring ability brought interest from Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State but Williams decided to head to Lubbock.

As a Red Raider, Williams’ career would be defined by unexplainable inconsistency. On some nights he would score 20 points or more and then go three games before reaching double figures again.

At the start of this season, Williams looked to have put that trend behind him. He put up double figures in 11 of Texas Tech’s first 13 games including a season-high 26 in the year’s first game against High Point.

However, in Big 12 play Williams drove fans and his coaches crazy with his inconsistent play. His lack of dependability eventually led to his demotion from the starting lineup in favor of sophomore Justin Gray.

Williams began the conference season with 23 huge points as Texas Tech defeated the Texas Longhorns in Lubbock. But he followed that game up with three ineffective games in which he scored 10, 4 and 8 points in three consecutive Texas Tech losses.

All season, Devaugntah Williams was a wild card. Texas Tech never could count on him to be a consistent scorer and if Williams was not scoring points he was not very useful to the team. As a below average defender and an average ball handler, Williams was called upon to do one job, score points and when he did not do that his team struggled.

In a four-point home loss to No. 6 West Virginia, Williams failed to score a single point. Furthermore, he added only four points in Texas Tech’s 10-point loss in Austin and a mere six points in what was a very competitive nine-point loss at Kansas.

In fact, in nine of the final twelve Texas Tech basketball games of the season, including the first round NCAA Tournament loss to Butler, Devaugntah Williams failed to crack the double-digit scoring mark.

But at other times, he proved capable of putting his team on his back. Against Butler, Williams came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points in his final appearance as a Red Raider.

He also poured in 20 points on senior day against Kansas State and 19 points in Texas Tech’s overtime February upset of No. 14 Iowa State in Lubbock. But his team needed him to be a consistent scoring threat and that is something he never became.

In a four-point home loss to No. 6 West Virginia, Williams failed to score a single point. Furthermore, he added only four points in Texas Tech’s 10-point loss in Austin and a mere six points in what was a very competitive nine-point loss at Kansas.

In fact, in nine of the final twelve Texas Tech basketball games of the season, including the first round NCAA Tournament loss to Butler, Devaugntah Williams failed to crack the double-digit scoring mark.

But at other times, he proved capable of putting his team on his back. Against Butler, Williams came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points in his final appearance as a Red Raider.

He also poured in 20 points on senior day against Kansas State and 19 points in Texas Tech’s overtime February upset of No. 14 Iowa State in Lubbock. But his team needed him to be a consistent scoring threat and that is something he never became.

Next: 2015-16 Texas Tech basketball grades: Justin Gray

Despite having plenty of basketball talent, the Ohio native was the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the Texas Tech basketball team this year. Teams must be able to rely on seniors and because of his inexplicable inconsistencies; Devaugntah Williams earns a grade of C- for the 2015-16 season.

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