Cody Williams set for CU Buffs debut – Boulder Daily Camera

After a recent practice, Colorado freshman Cody Williams lingered on the CU Events Center floor to get in extra shots with a couple of his veteran teammates.

As he was winding down, the right-handed Williams lined up a left-handed 3-point attempt. Swish. A bystander, unsure if he saw what he just saw, asked Williams as he was coming off the floor if that was left-handed.

“Yeah,” Williams replied. “I want to do one in a game.”

Whether that happens — or exactly how many games Williams will play in a Buffs jersey in order to meet that goal — remains to be seen. Regardless of the ultimate fate of that potential left-handed 3-ball, Williams’ pending debut with the CU men’s basketball team is certain to offer more than a few eye-popping highlights.

One of the most anticipated player debuts in program history finally arrives on Monday evening, as Williams and the Buffs host Towson (5:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network) to tip off a 2023-24 campaign full of lofty expectations.

“Obviously I’m really excited. The first college game is a huge deal,” Williams said. “I feel really comfortable. With the scrimmage and the exhibition, I really wasn’t too nervous. Kind of felt comfortable out there. And I guess that goes to show what the coaches do here. They’re preparing me really well for the games and making sure our whole team is prepared. I’m excited and feel ready to go.”

As the No. 4 overall recruit (per 247Sports) in the 2023 class, Williams is the gem of what has been an impressive run for the program on the recruiting trail. The Buffs have another freshman with big potential set to make his CU debut on Monday in forward Assane Diop, and a commitment earlier this week from Canadian guard Felix Kossaras gives the Buffs four 2024 pledges set to sign letters of intent on national signing day on Wednesday. Though the final team rankings are certain to still shuffle, 247Sports currently ranks the Buffs with the No. 9 recruiting class for 2024.

Williams, though, owns a different caliber of potential. A possible NBA draft lottery pick as soon as next summer, Williams has the potential to turn a solid core of CU returnees into a Pac-12 Conference contender.

“Managing expectations is something we’ve talked about with Cody. We actually talked about it during the recruiting process,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said during the preseason. “He kind of came on the scene and kind of blew up, so to speak, his senior year. It’s not like he was known as a freshman or sophomore in high school like a lot of these kids. Every day, he just gets better and better. And that’s what we’ve talked about with Cody. Let’s just take each day as it comes. Let’s eliminate as much as we can the outside noise. Thank goodness he’s not a huge social media guy. He doesn’t have a lot of voices in his ears. That’s good. That’ll serve him well as the season goes.

“I want our fans to understand that there will be a learning curve. But managing expectations is going to be big for him, and it’s something we’re going to talk about a lot as the season goes.”

Recruits with Williams’ type of pedigree often arrive with heightened, or even unreasonable, expectations. Williams will be no different. However, the makeup of the Buffs’ roster might help Williams adjust quickly to the college game.

CU’s success this season isn’t dependent on Williams being the team’s leading scorer. Those duties are most likely to be shared by Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson. Williams doesn’t have to be the Buffs’ leading rebounder, and he won’t have the responsibility of running the point. Williams can simply hit the floor and play.

“I think it just opens up stuff for everybody. You can’t just double anyone on our team,” Williams said. “Just having guys that have been in this program for so long and know how to play the game of basketball and be effective, it allows us to really create offense and defensively, with our defensive intensity and our length. Just having guys a group of guys like that who are unselfish, who have been teaching me the whole entire school year so far, really just allows me to be comfortable out there and play my game.”