Auburn forward, Jaylin Williams is one of the bright spots for the Tigers this season. Fans were worried for Jaylin Williams after he injured his knee, landing in an awkward position after a dunk attempt against Kentucky in the second half. On the road, the Wildcats took advantage and defeated Auburn at Neville Arena, 70-59.
Williams was helped to the locker room, and could not put any weight on his injured leg. He did not come back to the bench or the game after the incident.
Latest on Jaylin Williams, and his availability for the Auburn Tiger's this season
As per Auburn University, William's freak knee injury during Saturday’s loss on their home court was found to be “non-season ending.” This report came during the team's evaluation on Sunday morning after a Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) procedure.
"I'm going to be fine." tweeted by Williams on the social media app, X.
Auburn Head Coach, Bruce Pearl thinks that the 23-year-old forward from Nahunta, GA is a key contributor for the No. 13 ranked Auburn (20-6).
"He’s having a phenomenal senior season. It’s not like I’m giving the scouting report away, but when Williams has played well, we’ve won." Bruce Pearl said.
Pearl mentioned that Williams' poor play in a few games translated to the team's losses as well.
"And he’s only really not played well in about four or five games. Those happening to be the games we lost. The math’s kind of scary. Give Jaylin Williams credit." Pearl on Williams's contributions for Auburn
The Auburn coach thinks the next man for Auburn should step up when one of their Top 2 best players got injured against Kentucky.
“I think we have guys that will step up. But Jaylin Williams is — he and Johni Broome are our two best players. So if he’s out for a little while, it’s got to be next man up. That’s a significant loss.” Pearl said.
The 6-foot-8, fifth-year senior has been a solid piece for the Auburn Tigers, averaging career highs.
He is the team's second-leading scorer behind Johni Broome, averaging 13.0 points per game in mind-boggling efficiency from the field (58.1%). In his final season, the forward is also averaging 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and shooting 41.4% (1.1 out of 2.7 attempts from 3) from the college three-point line.
The Auburn Tiger's all-time winningest player is a big loss to a squad that has NCAA championship aspirations this March. They are hopeful that this return to the team would rather be sooner than later.
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