Over the last two years, Malik Williams has had a rough go when it comes to injuries.
Before the start of the 2019-20 season, the Louisville forward/center developed a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, and had to have a screw inserted. Later that season against Florida State in February of 2020, he would also suffer a left high ankle sprain.
Due to the eventual onset of the COVID-19 pandemic a month later, and lack of access to any sort of rehab during quarantine, scar tissue formed in his ankle that he would go on to deal with for the entirety of the 2020-21 season.
But even before that season started, he had another injury to deal with. Just three weeks before Louisville's season opener, Williams developed a new fracture in his right foot. He would only play three games that season, until he re-aggravated his right foot in the Cardinals' road game at Duke in this past February.
The 6-foot-11, 250-pound big man was shut down immediately, allowing him to properly rehab both his lower body injuries. The program took a slow approach with him over the offseason, but he was eventually fully cleared just ahead of the start of the 2021-22 preseason.
Williams says that, roughly a month into his final season at Louisville, he doesn't feel any lingering pain from the multitude of injuries that he has suffered. But to say that he is back to his former self would not be accurate.
"I'm feeling good," he said Monday after a brief pause, when asked how he felt from a physical standpoint. "Not as comfortable as I would hope, and as I would want to be, just in terms of the feel for the game and the flow of the game. Being able to do the job constantly and consistently."
In his own words, Williams says he doesn't have the 'pop' that he once had, and it has shown up at times on the court. While he is averaging 6.8 points and 9.3 rebounds through the first four games this season, there have been a multitude of moments where he does not look remotely close to how he did when he was the runner up for ACC Sixth Man of the Year.
For example, several opposing guards this season have been able to drive to the rim with an ease not previously seen when Williams is patrolling the paint. This was especially true against Furman, as Mike Bothwell poured in a 30-point effort en route to upsetting the Cardinals.
"I think that he's dealing with a reality that you hate to see a kid at his age have to deal with," acting head coach Mike Pegues said. "He just doesn't possess the physical prowess, and lateral quickness, and leaping ability that he once had because of his injuries."
Williams admits that it has been difficult from a mental standpoint, knowing that his many injuries have limited his on-court capabilities. But that being said, he has accepted the challenge facing him, and continues to try and find ways to impact the game like he did at his physical peak.
"Malik has more than enough in the tank to still be a hard playing guy that can make pivotal plays for us on both ends of the floor," Pegues said. "He's trying to find a way to play really hard in ball screen coverage, post defense getting around and fronting, getting off his feet to rebound and play above the rim a little bit. That's a challenge when you've had the injuries that he's had."
With this being his final year at Louisville, and maybe even his last year playing competitive basketball period depending on what NBA scouts tell him, the fifth-year senior is dedicated to leaving it all out on the court for the remainder of his time as a Cardinal.
"It's over with come April, whenever this thing is all said and done," he said. "I don't get that opportunity to come back and play again, so it's just about really trying to give it all right now, and trying to keep me mentally into it so that I can give it my all."
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