The Ashland University men’s basketball team made some major changes to their starting lineup from just a season ago.
Due to mainly the NCAA transfer portal, the Eagles lost many of their opening day starters from last season such as point guard Simon Wheeler and center Victor Searls who both went to Division I schools — Jacksonville University and Ohio University respectively.
Wheeler and Searls were key factors in the Eagles’ success, leading the team in scoring.
Their absences created the opportunity for redshirt junior Maceo Williams to take the responsibility of being the number one player for the Eagles. Last season, Williams put up solid averages of 14.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 66% from the field.
For most of his time on the floor, Williams was playing the power forward position along with Searls; but, during a six-game stretch last year when Searls was out of the lineup due to injury, Williams slid into that center spot and promptly played the best basketball of his career, up to that point.
His numbers increased to 21.5 points and 7.7 rebounds in those contests, shooting 74% from the floor. Playing that center position full time this season allows Williams to showcase all of his skills.
“With losing those guys, there are a lot of points to make up for,” Williams said. “My main focus is to do everything I’ve been doing to put me in this position, but even more now.”
So far in the young 2024-25 season, that mindset has worked incredibly well for Williams, who has won back-to-back Great Midwest Athlete of the Week honors through the first two weeks.
He’s putting up 23.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in the first four games for the Eagles, shooting 79% from the floor.
In the season opener on Sunday Nov. 10, Williams connected on his first collegiate game winner when he hooked in a buzzer beater to defeat the Grand Valley State Lakers on the road.
He followed that up with a perfect game from the field, making all 13 of his shot attempts on Saturday Nov. 16 against Miami-Middletown, finishing with 28 points in 21 minutes.
The next day, Williams scored 18 points and 11 rebounds in a tough loss against the IUP Crimson Hawks; despite the loss, he knocked down a couple of clutch game-tying free throws with less than 30 seconds on the clock. When asked about his clutch free throw shooting, Williams credited it to the work he’s put in during practice.
“The past two years, I wasn’t very good at free throws,” Williams said. “But just staying after practice [getting shots up] really contributes to what it shows in those clutch moments.”
Fans can continue following Williams and the team through goashlandeagles.com.
