Report: Auburn forward Jaylin Williams will travel to Tennessee, questionable for Wednesday night
Auburn forward Jaylin Williams could reportedly be ready to return to the court on Wednesday against Tennessee.
Williams is questionable for the matchup, according to Jon Rothstein.
“Auburn’s Jaylin Williams (knee) will travel to Knoxville and is questionable for Wednesday’s game against Tennessee, per Bruce Pearl,” Rothstein posted on Twitter.
The senior is averaging 13 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He missed Saturday’s matchup against Georgia — a game that Auburn won 97-76. Jaylin Williams traveled to Athens for Saturday’s game against Georgia, although it was determined ahead of time that he was not going to play against the Bulldogs.
Williams suffered the injury against Kentucky on Feb. 17 and there was concern at the time that it was seriously. However, he is now close to returning and could return on Wednesday, less than two weeks after going down.
On3’s Justin Hokanson originally reported that Williams’ injury wasn’t as bad as was feared.
“Source: Auburn’s Jaylin Williams isn’t expected to need surgery and will return soon after a knee injury against Kentucky. Williams underwent his MRI this morning. That’s great news for the Tigers,” Hokanson posted on Twitter following the Auburn-Kentucky game.
Auburn is 21-6 (10-4) entering the matchup against the Vols. Tennessee is 21-6 (11-3) entering the top 15 showdown.
Paul Finebaum praises Bruce Pearl, what he has done for Auburn basketball program
Bruce Pearl took over Auburn‘s basketball team at a time where success was hard to come by. Now, the Tigers have one of the strongest programs in the country with arguably the best home court advantage in the NCAA.
SEC analyst Paul Finebaum has watched Pearl turn the program around, and explained how Pearl has led the Tigers’ to new heights in his decade with the team.
“The program has had waves of success. Sonny Smith in the 80s, Cliff Ellis. But Auburn was never consistent and something always went wrong,” Finebaum recently told Cole Cubelic and Greg McElroy. “When they went after Bruce Pearl, and it’s been I think about exactly 10 years, They made a statement and it was controversial. Bruce Pearl was out of the game. It was serving out a show cause, the school needed to go to the commissioner for permission. And even then everyone wasn’t sure.
“But they not only took a chance and were quickly rewarded, but then they made sure he stayed. Because after a couple of years, Bruce Pearl could have gone to a lot of places but the school doubled down, they built a new arena and they made a statement. I think that’s why Auburn has one of the most consistent basketball programs and one of the best in the country right now.”