4-star forward Brandon Williams names top 5 schools

Class of 2023 four-star Brandon Williams has announced his top five schools, in no order: UCLA, Illinois, UConn, St. John’s, and Oklahoma State.

“This is my top 5 right now but my recruitment is still wide open,” Williams said to On3.

The 6-foot-7 power forward out of Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ The King also holds offers from USC, Seton Hall, Kansas State, Creighton, and others.

Currently, Williams has only visited St. John’s unofficially but has an official visit to UCLA planned for August 2nd.

Williams is the No. 88 prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. On3’s evaluators are even higher on Williams, ranking him 57th nationally. He’s also the No. 1 prospect in the state of New York.

Editor’s note: UConn has not offered Williams.

Williams breaks down schools

St. John’s: “With St. John’s, just being around the coaching staff and the NYC guys that are like me, it of course felt like home and felt like automatic family. With them recruiting me heavily, I’ve just been very thankful for the whole process.

Oklahoma State: “Oklahoma State has been recruiting me for a little while now. Mike Boyton being a New York coach and being from Brooklyn, I feel like being in his program I can trust him and believe in him to make me a better player. They’ve had people like me, for example, Cade Cunningham came through their program and did big things.”

UCLA: “UCLA, I first started talking to around the end of 2021. When my school season began in December, we were in California playing and I unofficially visited UCLA and the campus was huge and everything was just beautiful and just calm and a great environment to be in. I feel like the coaches are great people and players also, and they can help me get better as a player in person and get me where I want to go.”

Illinois: “I’ve had a couple of conversations with the Illinois staff and they’ve come to New York to watch my games. I feel they are heavily recruiting me now and they are a heavy part in my recruitment.”

UConn: “I don’t know much about UConn yet, but that’s a school I would also just love to go to.”