The promise of Cody Williams came with an expectation the highly touted freshman would be a much more effective player in March than in November.

December has only just begun, and already Williams’ star is on the rise.

Only one month into his collegiate career, Williams’ vast potential is rising to the surface. The versatile wing is coming off the two most impressive games of the young season, and it’s a hot streak he will look to continue when the CU men’s basketball team takes on No. 15 Miami in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday (noon MT, ESPN2).

“It just feels way better. The more games you play, the more time you spend out there, the more you learn about your teammates and their capabilities, their tendencies,” Williams said. “So you can get them open shots. When they’re hitting, it opens up things for me as well. I’ve learned what spots I can be effective in. Cutting, offensive rebounds. When to attack, when to kick out. So I think just playing games, playing with my team and having that experience has kind of allowed me to see where I can be effective.”

The season-opening win against Towson showed a Williams quick to defer to teammates while getting his feet wet. By no means was it a poor debut — Williams went 1-for-4 with four points, four rebounds and three assists in 27-plus minutes — but it didn’t exactly showcase his NBA potential. Williams then missed the second game due to a minor injury.

He returned from the brief hiatus to go 6-for-9 with 17 points against Milwaukee. Yet after scoring just six points in CU’s win against Richmond in the first game of the Sunshine Slam two weeks ago, Williams has been off and running.

Williams scored 17 points with a season-high six rebounds in an overtime loss against Florida State, and is coming off consecutive 21-point performances at nationally-ranked Colorado State and in Sunday’s win against Pepperdine. And Williams did all of that 42-point damage over three halves, as he hit the break at CSU 0-for-3 before helping to keep the Buffs in the fight with an 8-for-9, 21-point second half.

Over the past four games, Williams has averaged 17.8 points while shooting .683 (28-for-41) from the floor. After going 0-for-2 from long range in the opener against Towson, Williams has put up a 6-for-8 mark from the 3-point arc.Improvement? It’s in those numbers after just one month. As the dynamic 6-foot-8 wing continues to gain confidence, head coach Tad Boyle believes more of Williams’ play-making ability will start coming to the forefront. Williams goes into the Miami game with 14 assists and 14 turnovers.

“His efficiency, his ability to finish, we knew that was going to be something that he had to get better at. I think he’s learning the physicality of the game, and he’s handling the physicality,” Boyle said. “He’s getting bumped on drives now, and he’s finishing. It’s not like getting bumped and throwing the ball away, or not finishing the play.

“He’s just going to keep getting better and better. The challenge I gave to Cody after the Colorado State game when I met with him was the assist-to-turnover ratio. To me, he should be a two-to-one guy because he’s a really, really good passer, a willing passer. Get that thing to two-to-one. If he does that and continues to be efficient and aggressive … just keep challenging him each and every week, each and every day. The thing I love about Cody is he’s so coachable. He wants to be great and he’s going to be great. He’s kind of growing up before our eyes, which is kind of fun, too.”