What is expected of Jacksonville’s Matt Williams this weekend at the East Coast Invitational and beyond? Allow coach Sean Thompson to explain.

“Leadership is a big thing. Matt is one of two seniors,” Thompson said. “He took a huge step last year and I’m expecting him to continue that growth and to keep a positive vibe.”

The 6-foot-2 Williams gets a chance to do that as he leads the Cardinals during the four-day ECI. The senior entered as one of Onslow County’s best returning players after he averaged 13.2 points, four rebounds and 1.2 steals per game and was named second-team all-area.

Williams is ready to have a solid senior year.

“Honestly, as soon as last season ended, it kind of hit me and I was like ‘I only got one more year of this,’” he said. “I might as well just go all out for it.”

Williams added that his goal is to improve his shooting and defense at the ECI. But like Thompson said, the Cardinals also look for Williams to emerge as a strong mental leader.

“It was tough last year because when he was not making shots, it affected his defense,” Thompson said. “But what I’ve seen from him this summer is when he’s not hitting shots, it has ticked him off and he’s played better defense.”

Williams agreed that improving that side of his game is important.

“It’s more mental,” he said. “I would get in my head a lot last year, but I need to keep playing and just worry about the next play instead of focusing on what I did wrong.”

One motivating factor comes from Jacksonville going 5-15 overall and 0-10 in the Big Carolina 6-A/7-A Conference last year. The five wins were the fewest since the Cardinals went 5-18 in 2012.

“It was tough because we would put our all into games, and it didn’t work out how we wanted,” Williams said. “But I feel like this year we will be better and have a good chance to win some major games. It’s all about taking it one game at a time. It’s going to take good teamwork, sharing the ball and making the right play every possession.”

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.