Virginia Commonwealth University’s Jonathan Williams entered this basketball season with a well-deserved reputation as a playmaker.

He has been that — and much more — as the Rams bolted to a 5-1 record, with impressive victories over St. John’s (75-69) and Louisiana State (85-74) in the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas on Nov. 23 through 25.

The Rams’ lone loss was to eventual Battle 4 Atlantis champion Baylor University (71-63).

Next up is a flight to Miami for a match with the University of Illinois of the Big 10 in the Hoophall Miami Invitational at American Airlines Arena.

It is no surprise that Williams leads VCU in assists with 24. It is something of a shocker that he’s second in scoring — 10.3 points per game — behind backcourt mate JeQuan Lewis with 14.5 points per game.

Williams tops VCU and is third in the Atlantic 10 Conference in the vital statistic of assists-to-turnovers ratio.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder has been charged with only eight turnovers while doing much of the ball handling for second-year Rams Coach Will Wade.

He earned raves for his 22-point, six-assist performance against St. John’s. In 34 fast-paced minutes against St. John’s, he was charged with just one lost possession.

His role has expanded as a junior. Williams averaged 2.3 points as a freshman and 3.9 as a sophomore, and he wasn’t relied on for scoring.

Williams is not yet a 3-point threat; he missed his only 3-point attempt this season.

However, he combines his savvy and quickness to dribble-drive to the hoop for floaters or deft passes to teammates, such as Justin Tillman, who is 18-for-28 (64 percent), Ahmed Hamdy-Mohamed (18-32, 56 percent) and Mo Alie-Cox (16-34 for 47 percent).

Williams is 27-for-47 from the floor for a sparkling 57 percent. VCU’s overall 49 percent shooting is second in the Atlantic 10 to the University of Rhode Island and a tribute to the Rams’ well-oiled game plan to work inside for high percentage attempts.

The emergence of Williams the scorer has eased the loss of guard Melvin Johnson (17.4 points per game and VCU’s all-time 3-point champ) and Korey Billbury (11.2 point average) from last year’s 25-11 squad.

Williams was born in Richmond but moved to New York City as a youngster and starred at St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey, where he was signed by former VCU Coach Shaka Smart.

The Rams can spruce up their resume with the next two games against power-conference opponents.

Following the game with the University of Illinois, VCU returns home on Wednesday, Dec. 7, to play host to Georgia Tech of the ACC on ESPNU. The Rams have never played Illinois. They lost to Georgia Tech last year in Atlanta.