Wake Forest's Alondes Williams is playing at an All-ACC level

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Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams has been one of the biggest surprises of the college basketball season so far.

Williams transferred to Wake Forest this past offseason after two unassuming seasons at Oklahoma. He mostly came off the bench for the Sooners and averaged 6.3 points per game.

So far at Wake Forest, he’s been a completely different player. Williams has transformed into one of the best scorers in the ACC, pouring in 21 points per contest — trailing only Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe at 22.1 points per game.

He’s scoring efficiently and at a tremendous volume. Williams boasts a true shooting percentage of nearly 65 percent through Wake Forest’s first 12 games of the year — an elite mark for any player, let alone a guard. In his last two games, Williams has scored 34 and 36 points in wins over Charlotte and VMI, respectively.

Williams now has three 30-point games this season, making him the only player in the country to reach that mark so far.

Alondes Williams:

– Only player in the country with three 30-pt games
– Only player avg. 21+ PPG, 6+ RPG, 4+ APG
– Only player w/ 250+ PTS on 60+% eFG

Most importantly? Wake Forest is 11-1.

— Cooper Watson (@coopertwatson) December 18, 2021

Williams isn’t just a scorer, either. He’s also averaging 6.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per contest — far and away more than he ever averaged during his time at Oklahoma.

His all around game has landed him near the top of KenPom’s All-ACC leaderboard. He’s currently in third place in KenPom’s ACC Player of the Year metric, trailing only Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. and Paolo Banchero.

Here are some highlights from Williams’ performance vs. Charlotte on Friday night:

Another eye-popping performance from Wake’s Alondes Williams (34PTS-8REB-7AST). Multiple OTD jumpers & explosive rim finishes. Feel & poise shined all game, especially late. Legit shot creator & maker w/ playmaking upside. Should hear more buzz in ACC play. Stock is certainly up pic.twitter.com/P8qIx8KGqg

— Jam Hines (@jamontheboards) December 18, 2021

Perhaps most importantly, Williams’ contributions are translating into wins. The Demon Deacons are 11-1 and have power conference wins over programs like Northwestern, Oregon State and Virginia Tech.

Wake Forest is up to No. 61 on KenPom’s live rankings after starting the year at No. 105. With most of the ACC struggling in nonconference play, the Demon Deacons have used that time to build their NCAA Tournament résumé.

Of course, that work is not done. Wake Forest still needs to do well during ACC play and pulling off an upset or two wouldn’t hurt. But if Williams can sustain this level of play — or something close to it — then making the tournament for the first time since 2016-17.

Wake Forest will be in action again on Dec. 22 against Boston College.