LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After a Monday morning meeting that included Louisville interim men's basketball coach Mike Pegues, interim athletic director Josh Heird, Malik Williams and his mother (via telephone), the three-year captain came to an agreement that will allow him to rejoin the team on Monday.
The team's leading scorer and rebounder, Williams was suspended before Louisville's game against North Carolina last week for what Pegues said was a pattern of not upholding the program's standards. Sources close to the team said that Pegues and Williams clashed when the coach called the player out.
Will Malik Williams come back to the Louisville basketball team? Should he come back? Eric and Rick discuss in their daily Sports Page segment.
On Monday, Pegues said the parties met and "we came to an agreement to allow Malik the opportunity to come back, obviously only under the condition that Malik can be the guy that we need him to be. On the court, in the locker room, he's got to conduct himself to a much higher standard than he was before the suspension. We laid out some expectations for him that he agreed to."
Pegues said Williams would be with the team during its video session Monday and in its practice session later. He expects Williams will have the opportunity to play when Louisville visits Notre Dame on Wednesday.
The Cardinals suffered their fifth straight loss at Syracuse on Saturday and are trying to avoid their first six-game losing streak since 1991.
One thing people discount RE: Malik Williams. Louisville was utterly inept at guarding a ball screen at Syracuse. Williams is, statistically, even in this season that has probably been his worst collegiately, among the top 10-12% of ball screen defenders in Division I.
— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) February 7, 2022
Pegues said Williams said the right things, but the proof will be in his performance.
"Unfortunately, in this world, you're held to the standard that your pattern of behavior has dictated," Pegues said. "Malik at times has been great -- I don't want to make this out to be like he's been an awful kid to be around the entire time he's been here, that's not the case at all. But again, with the rank of being a captain comes the responsibility of carrying yourself differently, and at worst, on your worst day, being able to come in and be compliant and be competitive and bring energy and not drain energy from the job. And there was too much going on, in my opinion, which created this situation in the first place where I felt like I had to suspend him. Going forward, I certainly want to believe the best about Malik and give him the opportunity to reassert himself on this team and be the guy that helps us make a big push down the stretch."
Louisville center Malik Williams hangs on after a dunk in a win over West Georgia on Nov. 3, 2021.
Pegues said the desire to go out on the right note was a significant topic of discussion for Williams, who is the first three-time captain in the program's history. Williams acknowledged some frustration at not having been able to move to the next level because of injuries and other factors, but he has been a popular player in Louisville and one who has given a good deal to the program.
"It was a big part of that meeting," Pegues said. "I thank Josh Heird for being here and providing the leadership and kind of mediating the meeting and at the same time supporting our expectations of our program. I think that he was able to speak to Malik in a different light than I've been able to communicate with him. I want Malik and I to be on the same page and the work together. We've done that in the past. I've been his position coach for three years. Obviously, during the course of that time, we've had some rough spots, we also had some really good spots. And at this point, here we are, right? You've got about a month left in your season, if not more depending on how we want to finish here. And let's do it the right way. You know what I mean? Let's just come in every day, let's be positive, let's be energetic. You know, nothing great has ever been done without enthusiasm. Let's provide that. Let's not come in and give anything other than the maximum effort with great enthusiasm and put the team first. If if he does that we can have a good thing. We can finish strong and we can do some big things. But that has to be the baseline expectation."
Related Stories:
- Pegues: Louisville's Malik Williams won't make the trip to Syracuse
- CRAWFORD | Louisville's Pegues suspends Williams for North Carolina game, maybe more
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