Williams represents Gophers' leap forward in NIT

NEW YORK - Rodney Williams described his time here as "a crazy experience" he never dreamed he would have while growing up. He also knows the city's bright lights -- for the Gophers, anyway -- were nearly never lit.

After a late-season slump, making the NCAA tournament would have required a Big Ten tournament championship. The Gophers had fallen so far, in fact, that they were in danger of missing the NIT and capping a second consecutive postseason-less year tinged with fan frustration and questions.

An improbable run to the NCAA tourney never materialized, but something nearly as important might have arrived in its place.

More than three weeks after the regular season ended, the Gophers still are playing. The Gophers, seeded No. 6 in the NIT after doing just enough to get in, have started a new season -- one featuring a fast, efficient brand of basketball and astronomical leaps from both Williams and freshman guard Andre Hollins.

The Gophers will play in the NIT semifinals Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden against Pacific-12 regular-season champion Washington, a feat that belies their Big Ten struggles and perhaps offers a glimpse of the future of the young squad.

"I think especially with our guys being so young, that makes the experience a little bit better," Williams said. "Everything is a lot more upbeat, everybody's a lot more happy, just to be playing still."

Were it not for an impressive outing in Indianapolis, the Gophers' season could have been over just as it was last year: in an anticlimactic blink. The Gophers found a new gear against Northwestern in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament, earning an overtime victory that started their impressive stretch. Including that victory, the Gophers have won four of their past five, none of those games at home.

The tournament also has provided a forum for players who have battled inconsistency all season to break out. Hollins started the charge with 25 points against Northwestern, but what Williams has done since is every bit as exhilarating and stunning.

While the junior always has displayed great promise, he never has put all of his talent together in a dominant, consistent package -- until now. In the NIT, Williams is averaging 22 points per game and is shooting 68.4 percent from the floor. He has scored at least 20 points in four consecutive games, including an overtime loss to Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals, making him the first Gophers player to do so since Kris Humphries did it in eight games in a row in the 2003-04 season.

And Williams' statistical accomplishments have come in the midst of flashes of brilliance: making smart plays, rolling through defenders, shooting with confidence and flying over bodies for powerful dunks that seem to coax a new, contagious intensity from him in the heat of games.

"It's fun playing with him," Hollins said with a grin. "His confidence is just good. We need him to attack and just be Rodney, just do what he does."

Williams has been such a powerful force for the Gophers that coach Tubby Smith has started running plays for the junior, which helps highlight his strengths, and gives the team the identity they have been searching for all year.

The starters have shown they are worthy. Smith said it has helped to have stability, but Williams said he believes that finding success in a style the team hadn't been able to use consistently all year was just as important.

"Coach has been preaching [the transition game] all year, but it's good that it's coming now, because we needed something, something different," Williams said.

Even with the same roster -- minus senior Ralph Sampson III, who has been out for five games because of a knee injury and isn't expected to play Tuesday -- the Gophers have managed to look very different. For Williams, and others, the change fits well.