By SAM LANCE
Class of 2023 four-star small forward Cody Williams, the younger brother of 2022 NBA first-round draft pick Jalen Williams, gave an update of his recruitment to ZAGSBLOG.com at the Nike EYBL Kansas City session.
Williams, the 6-foot-8, 180-pound small forward from Perry High School (AZ) and the Vegas Elite AAU program, named eight schools he’s in contact with the most. This includes Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, UNLV, Arizona, Tennessee, USC and UCLA.
Williams broke down each of these options:
LMU: “They have a beautiful campus. It’s a great school, great program. All the coaches are cool and really connected. So it really felt home.
Santa Clara: “That’s where my brother graduated so they’ve been in contact with me ever since I was in high school. So basically they’ve known me for a long time.”
UNLV: “They love me. They’re a great program. The head assistant coach at Texas Tech, [John Cooper}, recruited me so then he switched over to UNLV now. Now they’re recruiting me hard.”
LSU: “Cody Toppert, he was at Memphis recruiting me and now he’s at LSU. He’s always loved my game, loved my fit in the system. The head coach was actually at Murray State, which was my first offer. So he offered me there, then he got the head coaching job at LSU.”
Arizona: “They kind of came late but it was just because it was Tommy LLoyd’s first year. They’ve been recruiting me hard, especially since I’m an Arizona guy.”
Tennessee: “That’s a new one that just hopped on actually while I was at the draft. There was a guy there or something that knew Tennessee. They got my number and then a few days later they called me and offered and told me they loved my game. So they’ve been recruiting me super hard.”
USC: “They’ve been on me for a minute because they obviously like big guards. They have their lead guard coming back and he’s like 6-foot-7. He runs a lot of their offense. So they see me being that role, handling it and taking it.”
UCLA: “They love me too. They think I’m a great fit for the program. I can shoot it. I can stretch the floor. I can handle the ball. So they’ve really started liking me.”
Williams also named Seton Hall, Georgia Tech and Colorado as teams in the mix. He plans to name his top list of schools by the end of July and commit from there.
Williams would like to make his final college choice by the start of the high school season so he can play with a free mind. The point forward took visits to LMU and Santa Clara last winter and plans on taking two visits before Aug. 31. He can then take the rest of his officials when the visit counts reset on Aug. 31
Like his brother, Williams can provide teams with versatility. He describes himself as a playmaking forward. Over five games at the Nike EYBL Kansas City session, Williams averaged 15.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
“I can play one-through-four and guard one-through-four,” Williams said. “I’m also unselfish and I make the right plays.”
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