KU to face familiar foe in Darrion Williams on Saturday. He’s now at N.C. State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU faces former Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams, NC State’s team scoring leader.
- Williams previously dominated KU in Tech wins, scoring 30 on perfect shooting.
- Game tests KU defense against NC State offense and motivates NIL and transfer narratives.
The Kansas Jayhawks, who signed ESPN.com’s No. 2-ranked high school basketball prospect in the country in November 2024, were also in hot pursuit of the No. 4-rated transfer-portal player.
The second-ranked prep player, Darryn Peterson, will meet that highly rated portal player — Darrion Williams — on Saturday when No. 19 KU plays North Carolina State in a non-nonference game at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. (tipoff: 4:30 p.m. Central Time).
“We recruited him hard, so yes, I think he’s a good player, a really nice player,” KU coach Bill Self said of Williams, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound small forward who instead landed at N.C. State.
Six weeks after announcing plans to leave Texas Tech, Williams this past spring chose N.C. State over KU and Ohio State in recruiting. He has averaged a team-leading 15.9 points per game for the Wolfpack, who take a 7-3 record into Saturday’s showdown.
“He crushed us last year at our place (while) playing for Tech,” Self noted.
A native of Sacramento, California, Williams was actually instrumental in two Texas Tech victories over KU over the past two seasons. The first-team all-Big 12 player scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished four assists in the Red Raiders’ 78-73 victory over the Jayhawks on March 1 at Allen Fieldhouse.
He then scored 30 points on 12-of-12 shooting with 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 79-50 rout of the Jayhawks on Feb. 12, 2023 in Lubbock, Texas.
“When the ball is in his hands good things happen. When he’s in, good stuff happens,” first-year Wolfpack coach Will Wade said of Williams after the senior handed out six assists against one turnover while scoring eight points in a Dec. 6 win over UNC Asheville. “I have a lot of confidence in him and a lot of belief in him and I think he’s going to be fine long term.”
Williams, who averaged 21.0 points a game in four 2025 NCAA Tournament games for the Red Raiders — he had 23 points in an Elite Eight setback to eventual national champion Florida — scored nine points in Wednesday’s 85-45 home win over Liberty. A 52.3% shooter who has made 21 of 45 3-point attempts (46.7%), he hasn’t been scoring as many points lately as he was early in the season, when he went for 32 in a 110-64 drubbing of UNC Greensboro and 28 in an 85-79 victory over VCU.
“We have the ultimate belief in him,” Wade said of Williams, who has averaged 4.8 rebounds per game with 34 assists to 13 turnovers.
As to why he ultimately chose Wade’s program over KU … there was speculation at the time of Williams’ commitment that N.C. State offered more NIL dollars than any other team that pursued the player.
While not commenting on specifics, Self said: “There’s actually ... unfortunately there’s a limit on what you can do, even if it’s not a hard cap, it’s still a cap because, there’s only so much that you can do in certain situations.”
The Jayhawks, of course, provided a sizable number of NIL dollars to freshman sensation Peterson.
N.C. State also landed key transfers in Tre Holloman (Michigan State), Ven-Allen Lubin (North Carolina), Terrance Arceneaux (Houston) and Jerry Deng (FSU), as well as guards Quadir Copeland and Alyn Breed, who Wade coached at his prior stop, McNeese.
Holloman, a 6-2 senior from Minneapolis, Minnesota, scored five points with three rebounds and two assists in Michigan State’s 77-69 loss to the Jayhawks in the Champions Classic on Nov. 12, 2024 in Atlanta. Arceneaux, a 6-6 junior guard from Beaumont, Texas, scored three points and grabbed three rebounds in Houston’s 92-86 double-overtime victory over KU on Jan. 25, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse.
In a March 3 game in Houston, Arceneaux had no points (0-for-7 shooting) and two rebounds in a 65-59 victory over the Jayhawks.
Lubin, a 6-9, 250-pound senior from Orlando, Florida, scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting with three rebounds in KU’s 92-89 victory over North Carolina on Nov. 8, 2024 in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I think from a personnel standpoint guys are still going to do the things that they like to do in isolation situations, maybe things that they did at their prior place,” Self said, “but from a tactical standpoint and from a scheme standpoint, if this guy’s got an unused dribble on the left wing and his back is to you, this is what he likes to do. That’s probably going to be similar.
“But the way that they put them (transfers that have played KU before) in those situations, or even if they do put them in those situations, will be something that will be all fresh and new.”
N.C. State has averaged 88.8 points per game while allowing 72.7. The Wolfpack defeated Liberty as well as UNC Asheville (75-63), Boise State (81-70), VCU (85-79), UNCG (110-64), UAB (94-70) and North Carolina Central (114-66). N.C. State has lost to Auburn (83-73), Texas (102-97) and Seton Hall (85-74).
“I think that they are a lot like us trying to find their way, but it’s kind of a role reversal,” Self said.
His Jayhawks average 74.6 points per contest while allowing 63.7.
“They’ve been inconsistent on the defensive end, where we’ve been so inconsistent on the offensive end,” Self said. “They’ve got guys that can score and guys who are capable of taking and making hard shots, because they’re talented. I can’t speak for them, but to me, they’re a really talented team that will be a better team in January and February, just like we will be, because they’re all so new.”
North Carolina State has been especially effective playing at home in 19,700 seat Lenovo Center. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, NC State has a 71-3 (.959) record against non-conference opponents in regular-season home games. N.C. State is 6-0 at home this season.
“The goal is to protect the crib at all costs. We know that. These guys (teammates) know that. Our coaches know that. As a group we know that. We’re a good team and know what we can do,” said N.C. State senior guard Quadir Copeland, who averages 14.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He has 51 assists to 21 turnovers.
Wade, whose team is unranked, said the squad will have to play a lot better than it did Wednesday against Liberty to upend No. 19 KU.
“We play like that against Kansas, we’ll score 45. They have the eighth best defense in the country,” Wade said. “It’s going to be a totally different deal Saturday. We’ll be a big underdog. We’re going to have to play this (way) times about 3.”
KU leads the Big 12 in blocked shots (6.4), which is sixth nationally, as well as 3-point percentage defense at 24.9% — which ranks sixth nationally. KU is second in the Big 12 and 17th nationally in field goal percentage defense (46.1%).
After the game against N.C. State, KU will return home to play host to Towson at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
