When the mercury in the thermometer refuses to move into plus territory for days at a time, it can be a shock to the system for a young man from Memphis, Tenn.

Colorado freshman Jeremy Williams chooses to combat any homesickness or cabin fever he might be experiencing midway through his first college basketball season with a dose of humor shared with his teammates.

Williams does impersonations, and by all accounts, he does them well.

"I just observe a lot of people and their characteristics," Williams said. "I don't really know if I can impersonate anybody, but they tend to laugh when I do it."

Whether it's a selected moment during a particularly brutal practice or in the locker room after a tough loss, Williams picks up his teammates by launching into a dead-on portrayal of someone they all know. And suddenly spirits are lifted. Sometimes by belly laughs.

"He's probably the best impersonator I've ever seen in my life," freshman guard Dwight Thorne said. "Name somebody, he can do them well. Famous people, coaches, people's parents.

And he can do some of us."

Thorne said Williams probably couldn't do a better impersonation of strength and conditioning coach Vernon Stephens. When asked how well he does coach Ricardo Patton, Thorne said with a smile, "We don't want to get him in trouble."

Williams is beginning to round into a pretty good entertainer on the court as well.

He might be the most athletic player on the CU roster, and though his 6.7 points and five rebounds per game are not about to make anyone reach for the record book, watching him play lately should give CU fans plenty of hope for the future.

He can play inside and out. He has a soft jump shot and a fierce competitive streak that allows him to compete in the post with men much bigger than his 6-foot-7 frame.

"I think he's the most explosive guy on the team," freshman Xavier Silas said.

Some might think of him as a prime candidate to consider leaving CU at the end of the season. After all, he came to CU to play for coach Ricardo Patton and assistant coach Mike Anderson, who also have deep roots in Tennessee.

Patton announced in October that this would be his last season coaching the Buffs, but Williams said prior to Monday's practice that CU has grown on him, and he's committed to staying in Boulder, barring some unusual development.

"He is one of the best kids I've ever coached in terms of he's in it for the team. He's not in it for himself," Patton said. "His personality hasn't changed when he's played a little or when he's played a lot, when he has started, when he has not started.

"He's just got a great way about him. He's a special young man."

The first 13 games of his college career have been quite an adjustment for him. When the Buffs lost for the first time this season at New Mexico in November. It was the first loss Williams had experienced since his junior year in high school. His team went 39-0 during his senior year.

Williams also has had to adjust from being able to dominate most opponents to struggling, at times, to play well against competition in the Big 12 Conference.

What Patton likes best about Williams is that when he does struggle in a game, he is back at practice the next day working harder.

"I feel like I'm not a freshman anymore," Williams said. "I should probably step my game up a little as it gets toward tournament time."