Shelden Williams Offers Mark Williams Advice on Playing for Coach K

Duke great has tips for incoming freshman seven footer

Incoming seven-footer Mark Williams appeared on Duke basketball’s Brotherhood Connect podcast recently and received advice from a Blue Devil legend.

Williams will be the biggest player on Duke’s roster next season and plans to be a force inside.

“Protecting the rim,” he said, “finishing, good hands, rebounding.”

Williams would like to add an outside touch to his game.

“Perimeter, knocking the three-point shot down consistently,” he said of what he needs to work on. “Moving my feet, being able to guard guards.”

Former Blue Devil big man Shelden Williams (no relation) appeared on the show to give the younger Williams an idea of what to expect when he gets to Duke.

“My favorite times—going through it it wasn’t—but the early morning workouts. I hated it at the time, but it brought the team together,” he said. “I didn’t see that going through it, but afterwards … You started seeing it. During the course of the season, you’re going to have times when it gets a little rough, a little rocky. That person that was next to you running at 5:00, 6:00 in the morning, putting that arm around you, saying, ‘We’re in this together.’ That’s one of the things I loved about being in a big (recruiting) class coming in. You’ll have that.”

Williams also told the freshman to be what Coach K expects from a new big man. “The same thing he expects from everybody on the team,” he said. “Bring energy. There’s no way you, being 18, 19, 20 years old, that you don’t have energy. Day one, every single day, he’s gonna throw himself in no matter what. You match that energy, he’s gonna respect you and love you for that. Some days, you can’t throw the ball in the ocean. As long as you bring your energy and want to work, he’s gonna love that.”