Colorado star Cody Williams is headed to the 2024 NBA Draft.
Williams, who is a projected lottery pick, told ESPN on Monday that he will enter the NBA Draft later this summer. The move was long expected, especially considering that Williams was once the projected No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Williams himself confirmed the news on social media Monday afternoon.
Williams averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists last season with the Buffaloes. He shot better than 55% from the field in 24 games, too. By mid-January, the 6-foot-8 forward was the projected No. 1 overall pick by Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek.
Williams, though, sustained several significant injuries throughout the season — including a fractured orbital bone, a wrist injury and an ankle injury. After making it out of the First Four round, Williams led Colorado past Florida in the first round of the NCAA tournament with a 25-point performance, but the Buffaloes fell to Marquette in the second round.
After the season, Peek had Williams going No. 10 overall in the draft later this summer to the Atlanta Hawks.
“I don’t really feel like I have anything to prove, just because I’ve already put in the work,” Williams said of his draft stock during the NCAA tournament, via ESPN. “I’ve already done what I need to do, my due diligence in terms of working off the court, being prepared.
“So as long as I just stay focused on college basketball and just play my game, everything else in the future will kind of take care of itself.”
Colorado went 26-11 last season with Williams — who was a five-star Rivals.com recruit coming out of high school and the No. 7 player in his class — which marked the program’s highest single-season win total in history.
