Buckskin86
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Rivals.com
Scout.com
Shooting guard
Chicago (IL) St. Patrick
AAU: Illinois Wolves
Ht: 6-foot-5
Wt: 180 lbs
Class: 2011 (High School)
Williams will be one to watch out for
July 7, 2009 BY SCOTT POWERS
Jacob Williams should draw plenty of attention from college coaches throughout the July evaluation period.
(Scott Powers/For the Sun-Times News Group)
As of Monday, eating and sleeping was put on backburner for DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright, Illinois? Bruce Weber, Northwestern?s Bill Carmody and every other Division I basketball coach.
With the April recruiting period eliminated this year, it has made the two nine-day evaluation periods in July all that much more important.
From Monday to July 15 and then from July 22-31, college coaches will be chasing down every possible prospect all over the country. There will be players they want to see and players they must see.
Count the Class of 2011?s Jacobs Williams among the must see.
The last time college coaches witnessed Williams, a 6-foot-5 wing, playing he was on the summer club circuit with the Illinois Wolves a year ago. He impressed scouts and coaches, and they had hoped to catch even more of his game during the high school season. But when Williams was expelled from St. Patrick before his sophomore season and was unable to play at Bartlett after transferring, college coaches lost that opportunity.
A year later, Williams is on everyone?s radar again.
?He will be closely watched this July by college coaches,? City/Suburban Hoops Report?s Joe Henricksen said. ?I would suspect a whole lot more interest and offers will be coming his way after July.?
Williams was expelled from St. Patrick for an undisclosed reason, but many close to the situation have assured it wasn?t for anything too serious. It was a mistake, and he paid the price. He left St. Patrick, transferred to Bartlett and sat out the season.
?I missed it a lot, sitting out the whole year,? said Williams, who is reapplying to attend St. Pat?s again. ?It was tough. You knew you could be out there helping your team. ? I learned a lot. I matured. You got to be very mature. You got to do stuff responsibly.?
Illinois Wolves coach Mike Mullins has seen that change.
?I think it was a very maturing experience for him and learning about the adult side of the game,? Mullins said. ?It?s tough for any kid that age. I think it?s no different if you have an injury and you have something you love taken away from you. You learn how much you miss it and how much of a privilege it is to play. That?s definitely the case with Jacob. He survived it and has come back better than ever.?
In April with the Wolves, Williams returned to his first competitive action. He was rusty and out of shape. It has taken him some time, but he again has started showing the skill and athleticism that kicked off his interest the year before.
?There is no question the year off from the high school season negatively impacted his progress as a player,? Henricksen said. ?It has taken him some time to get back to being comfortable and sharpen the tools that he's blessed with. He really struggled out of the gate this spring but is now elevating his game. He has so much room to grow as a player. A big upside is there.
?He is the long, lanky, athletic wing with size that college coaches covet these days, because of the versatility he brings and the ability to defend bigger players out on the perimeter. He has some natural scoring ability but still needs to correct some mechanics with his shot. Right now, his perimeter jumper is a little flat. He's capable of handling the ball to an extent where, in time, combined with size and length he should really be able to improve his ability to create shots for himself and get to the rim.?
While college coaches haven?t been able to see Williams actually play, many have continued to recruit him. Arizona, DePaul, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Marquette, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Providence Purdue, Texas, UNLV and Wisconsin are among the long list of schools that have shown interest.
?He?s got a wide range, and he?s already a national recruit,? Mullins said. ?He just has as much upside as anyone in our program. We?ve been very successful for a long time. We?ve had a lot of highly ranked players nationally and locally, and Jacob fits that mold.?
Williams will be one to watch out for :: BOYS BASKETBALL :: YourSeason
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