Jaylin Williams feels Arkansas is being underestimated again
Jaylin Williams is used to the rest of the country underestimating Arkansas. Many counted the Razorbacks out this season after an 0-3 start to SEC play, but the team never stopped believing.
They turned around to deliver a nine-game winning streak that included an upset of then-No. 1 Auburn. Arkansas ultimately finished 13-5 in the conference to earn a four seed in the NCAA Tournament, but the Razorbacks still feel as if they are being overlooked.
Vermont, the 13 seed Arkansas will face in the first round, has become a popular upset pick among college basketball pundits. Williams and the rest of his teammates are acutely aware of this and find themselves relishing the opportunity to prove doubters wrong once again.
“I feel like that has been our thing since the beginning of the season,” Williams said in a Wednesday press conference. “We’ve always been overlooked. We’re 0-3 at the beginning of the conference, and everybody turned their back on us, and we kept believing in each other. What this team can do I feel like the sky is the limit. We believe in each other. We believe that the guy next to us is going to make the big shot every game no matter who it is. We just keep believing in each other, and we’re going to go game by game.”
Both the Razorbacks and Catamounts field veteran teams that are eyeing a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas starts four seniors, with Jaylin Williams, a sophomore, being the lone exception. Three of those seniors are transfer players, with Williams leading scorer JD Notae being the only starters who were also members of last season’s Elite Eight team.
Vermont, on the other hand, starts five seniors and all but one has been with the program for multiple seasons. The Catamounts raced through the America East Conference Tournament, winning each of their three games by at least 30 points on their way to the championship. Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said earlier this week that the talented of Vermont, and the location of the game is something his team has to be aware of entering Thursday.
“You know, it’s interesting,” Musselman said. “We play in Buffalo. Vermont’s a seven-hour drive or whatever. UConn’s another team in that. That’s a six-hour and fifteen-minute drive. So [it’s] kind of like a road game for us against Vermont, quite frankly. We’ve got to understand that, as well.”
Arkansas is set to tip off against Vermont at 9:20 p.m. ET Thursday with the game being televised on TNT. If the Razorbacks can avoid an upset, they’ll get the winner of UConn and New Mexico State in a matchup on Saturday.