In the moments after Auburn’s once-promising season came to a sudden end last March in Greenville, S.C., thanks to an anticlimactic blowout at the hands of Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Bruce Pearl was understandably disappointed.

He was also eager to get back to work and expressed an excitement about the future of the team and the role Jaylin Williams would play in it.

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After Williams accepted a reserve role and took a backseat to consensus All-American Jabari Smith last season, but Pearl saw him as a leading man heading into 2022-23. A little more than midway through this season, that vision has come to life for Auburn, as Williams has emerged as one of the Tigers’ top all-around players—and is a big reason for the team’s recent run of quality play after an uneven monthlong stretch heading into SEC play.

“(He’s) more locked in,” Pearl said. “(He’s) recognizing the opportunity that we’ve worked so hard to put ourselves in, the opportunity that he’s worked for and had to patiently wait through last season. I think taking advantage of it and recognizing the importance that for us to continue to win, he needs to continue to do what he’s doing.”

The 6-foot-8 forward has started all but one game for Auburn at the four this season, sitting out the Colgate game due to illness, and has delivered even better results than his sophomore season when he as arguably the Tigers’ best all-around player in 2020-21. He’s averaging 10.8 points per game while shooting 47.2 percent overall and 40.7 percent from beyond the arc, and he’s adding career-highs in rebounds (5.2) and assists (2.2) each time out.

Williams’ scoring average is a touch below what he averaged as a sophomore (10.9 points per game), and he’s currently the Tigers’ third-leading scorer as well as one of four players averaging double figures amid a 15-3 start for the nation’s No. 16 team. He’s also second on the team in rebounding and assists, behind Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr., respectively.

While Green and Broome have gotten much of the attention this season, and deservedly so at times, Williams has quietly become a force to be reckoned with for Auburn. He leads the team in PER (player efficiency rating) at 20.6, as well as in win shares (2.3). The Tigers are 9-0 when Williams scores in double figures and 6-0 when he attempts at least 10 shots in a game.

“He’s been great,” starting two-guard Zep Jasper said. “He’s been doing everything coach asked him to do. He’s been leading the team in a lot of categories. He’s been the X-factor of this team. A lot of guys don’t see it. A lot of coaches don’t see it, but he’s been the X-factor for sure, and he’s been doing what he’s supposed to be doing, helping the team out in so many ways.”

That has been particularly true the last three games, as Williams has strung together his best stretch of basketball since the end of his sophomore season. During Auburn’s wins against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and LSU, Williams filled the box score. He averaged 15.7 points — shooting 52.7 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from beyond the arc — to go along with 5.7 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block per game.

It’s his second stretch this season of three consecutive games in double-figure scoring, and it included a season-high 21 points against Mississippi State, when he knocked down five of his seven attempts from 3-point range — one shy of matching his career high.

“J-Will just being J-Will,” senior wing Allen Flanigan said. “He seizes opportunities. He has open looks, and he takes those open shots. Just really playing to his strengths of his game.”

Williams has thrived in his reintroduction to the starting lineup this season, and he’ll look to keep up his recent run of success Saturday when Auburn (15-3, 5-1 SEC) visits South Carolina (8-10, 1-4) for a 2:30 p.m. CT tip in Columbia, S.C. (SEC Network).

While the Gamecocks have struggled this season, they’ve also notched wins at Kentucky and against Clemson, which currently sits atop the ACC. It’s a matchup Auburn won’t be taking lightly, and even if Williams doesn’t turn in another stat-stuffing line on the road, the Tigers have shown an ability to win through balance across the lineup.

“When Jaylin isn’t (on), if it’s in Columbia or someplace next, will we get the step up from that next man? That’s what’s really key,” Pearl said. “…It’d be hard to put it on anybody, but clearly, the four guys that are in double digits right now are guys that have been pretty consistent. And if those guys can continue to perform like that, it gives us a fighting chance.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.