FanShot

UVa's Zed Williams Top Freshman to Watch

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1. Zed Williams, Virginia M

Williams inherits a Rob Emery-like role as a midfield ball-handler with superior passing skills. After a long summer, preseason and season in Charlottesville, Williams chose not to pursue a spot on the Iroquois National Team last summer, favoring being at home with his family. He should arrive fresh and hungry for what will be a breakout sophomore season. Williams has good size at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds. He’s 100% right-handed and supremely skilled. Very dangerous with feet planted, Williams can make the highlight-reel play. He’s more of a freelancing wing dodger than a north-south alley dodger, and UVA’s patterns must adjust to his strengths. He may be lethal dodging off of up-and-down screens. He appeared in 14 of UVa's 16 games as a second-line midfielder in 2014 and finished with 15 points (6-9-15), which ties for sixth-most for a true freshman midfielder during Dom Starsia's tenure at UVA.

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