Men’s basketball coach Burno reveals Williams’ injury
Then-sophomore guard Keshawn Williams (0) performs a layup as Kent State University’s then-redshirt junior guard Sincere Carry defends during a Mid-American Conference basketball game between NIU and Kent State on March 1, 2022 at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill. (Northern Star File Photo)
March 2, 2023
DeKALB – NIU junior guard Keshawn Williams’ injury diagnosis was finally revealed by NIU men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno during the post game press conference on Feb. 28. Williams suffered a torn ACL in the Huskies game against the University at Buffalo on Jan. 7.
“He’s done, (for the season) he had an ACL tear,” Burno said.
Williams appeared in 15 games prior to his injury, leading the Huskies in scoring while averaging 17.9 points per game. His best performance of the season was against Indiana State University on Dec. 22, having scored 32 points on 65% shooting.
“Keshawn was a guy that came into practice every day, worked hard, never complained and he had the worst injury in basketball that can happen to you,” senior guard Kaleb Thornton said.
In Williams’ first season with NIU last year, he averaged 17.6 points per game in conference play, good for seventh in the Mid-American Conference. His play last season earned him an All-MAC Honorable Mention.
“His recovery is the most important thing,” Burno said. “Right now he’s looking fine and doing really well. If you saw him, you wouldn’t know he had anything wrong with him.”
NIU will continue to play without its top scorer going into next week’s MAC tournament from March 9 to March 11 in Cleveland, Ohio.
