Indiana WR is thankful to be back with the Hoosiers after transfer portal stint
During the 2024 season, it seemed that E.J. Williams was going to be flying the nest from Indiana, but after some long considerations, the senior decided to stick around for his final year.
Wide receiver E.J. Williams has had an interesting two years at Indiana and his third just might be the most surprising. The story of Williams is one that might confuse Hoosier fans, especially when it is said that he is happy to be re-joining Indiana for another season, especially with the way he left.
After dealing with an injury in the first three games of the 2024 season, Williams then played in the next four games of the season and made a decision that has become more and more popular in football recently. Williams decided he wanted another season of football to get ready for the NFL so he was going to redshirt, which meant he couldn’t play in any more games that season.
The NCAA rules that someone who would like to redshirt for a season can not play in more than four games in a season. So when Williams confronted head coach Curt Cignetti about his decision, Cignetti made it clear he chose who got to redshirt, and if this was the decision Williams was going to make, the transfer portal was where he needed to go.
Even though it was a tough decision, Williams listened to Cignetti and entered the transfer portal at that point, allowing him to be recruited by other schools, and he certainly talked with a few. However, Williams wasn’t able to find a home better than Indiana and has made the choice to return.
E.J. Williams returns to Indiana, officially withdrawing from the transfer portal
Williams made the decision to return to Indiana actually when he was on a visit to another school.
“I happened to be on a visit at one school, and coach Cig reached out to me, and we had a good talk, and I decided I was going to come back,” Williams said in his spring football press conference.
It makes all the sense in the world for Cignetti and Williams to reunite, especially when he didn’t want to leave in the first place. Williams missed out on the opportunity to go to the College Football Playoff with the Hoosiers last season, and he is not going to let another opportunity like that get by him again.
“With the guys Cig brought in, he turned this team into one of the best programs in the Big Tenn” Williams said. “Of course, I want to be a part of that.”
Williams returning is a great thing, as Cignetti has admitted to his work habits and talent on the football field, but keeping him on the field seems to be a bit of a problem. Unfortunately, Williams has dealt with injury throughout his college career, so keeping him healthy will be the main priority. When he is healthy, his production is great, like in 2023 when he had 20 catches for 247 yards, which is 12.4 yards per catch, and that was with Brendan Sorsby as his quarterback.
