Monday, July 10, 2000
UC has competition for Williams
By Mike DeCourcy
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — It is Jawad Williams' geographic assessment of the basketball world that the two-hour drive separating Columbus from his home in the Cleveland area is entirely too short for him to properly “grow up” while attending college.
This does not matter to Ohio State, which no longer is interested in recruiting him, but would seem to impact the Cincinnati Bearcats.
“Four hours is a lot different than two,” Williams said. So UC still has a shot.
Landing this 6-foot-9 small forward from St. Edward High in Lakewood — the school that graduated current UC point guard Steve Logan — became more of a priority when UC lost out to Ohio State on Moeller High star Matt Sylvester.
Williams has been impressive at the Nike All-America Camp, which ends today at the National Institute for Fitness and Sport. This is one of the first major events of the summer evaluation period for college basketball prospects, and the coaches in attendance are seeing from him the same sort of energy and production that impressed recruiting analysts who watched Williams play well at the NBA Players Association Camp last month.
The Bearcats' primary aim in recruiting for the 2001-02 season is to add an elite freshman who can score from the wing, and Williams and 6-foot-4 shooting guard Kelvin Torbert of Flint, Mich., are the top-rated perimeter players considering UC.
The Bearcats had wanted Sylvester, but his was one of three commitments, along with those of point guard Brandon Fuss-Cheatham of Beaver Falls, Pa., and 6-9 power forward Terence Dials of Youngstown, the Buckeyes secured before the current recruiting evaluation period began.
That ended OSU's efforts to sign Williams, an elastic sort who aver aged 16.5 points and 8.0 rebounds as a junior and is ranked the No. 13 prospect nationally by the PrepStars Recruiter's Handbook.
“I could care less,” Williams said. “They took who they wanted. It didn't bother me at all. I figured they would take Matt Sylvester, because I figured I wasn't going to go there after awhile. They were not high on my list.”
That list includes Maryland, UC, North Carolina, Duke and Florida and is getting longer with the addition of Memphis earlier this month.
A year ago, when he was attending the adidas ABCD Camp in New Jersey rather than Nike, Williams came close to announcing an early commitment to the Bearcats. Williams had not begun his junior season in high school, but was just about set on a college career at UC.
He changed his mind. Williams not only retreated from committing to the Bearcats, he made a spring visit to Maryland that placed the Terps as his current top choice.
“A lot of other schools started to get involved in my recruiting, so I waited to see if I could get a better deal,” Williams said. “Duke, North Carolina — you can't turn them down. I had to give them a look.”
Williams isn't certain how he feels about the Tar Heels at this point. He enjoyed his contact with previous coach Bill Guthridge, who resigned before the recruiting period began. Until another coach is in place, Williams cannot be certain Carolina will continue to recruit him or that it will matter.
He did not detect any increase in the urgency of UC's recruitment of him following Sylvester's commitment to Ohio State.
“I like the Bearcats, Coach Huggins,” Williams said. “A lot of the players I knew way before I got here. I think I could go there and play real well.”
The schools in pursuit have to be more enthusiastic about Williams, following a junior year many talent scouts considered to be uninspired. Although he confesses he needs to improve his perimeter defense and overall strength, Williams showed off improved 3-point shooting throughout the first few days at the Nike Camp.
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