INTEL: A change in the recruitment of 4-star Cody Williams?

Four-star Cody Williams recruitment remains extremely tight-lipped. His ride with college coaches has also coincided with his continued blow-up in the recruiting rankings world.

Williams is the younger brother of 2022 NBA Draft lottery pick Jalen Williams, who played at Santa Clara. The 6-foot-7 small forward is now the 2023 On3 Consensus No. 26 player after averaging 14.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals for his Vegas Elite team that finished 11-and-16 on the Nike EYBL Circuit.

The four-star wing picked up close to 25 offers along the way. He took junior year official visits to Santa Clara and Loyola-Marymount. Williams’s senior year officials have been to Southern California, Arizona, LSU, and Colorado.

Williams recruitment

For the longest time, Arizona was said to be the leader. I received so much intel toward that end that I wrote a ranking the contenders piece in early October. Well, as they typically do in recruiting, sources indicate the tides are shifting, and despite being the local school, it does not appear that Arizona is in the mix any longer.

Southern California will lose starting small forward Drew Peterson after this year, as well as point guard Boogie Ellis. The Trojans already have two committed in the 2023 class, with Arrinten Page and Silas Demary, Jr., and they are in the mix to land No. 1 PG Isaiah Collier. They also took wings Oziyah Sellers and Tre White in their 2022 class. Intel suggests that Andy Enfield’s group is no longer in the mix either.

This leaves LSU and Colorado as the final high major schools Williams has officially visited. We are told it was the relationship Williams built with the staff at Colorado that got him on the visit, and their facilities and training development opened his eyes.

LSU assistant coach Cody Toppert has been Williams’s lead recruiter to this point. He has NBA ties and a background in player development; neither of those tidbits has fallen flat for Williams. Williams also told On3 that new LSU head coach Matt McMahon was Williams’s first D-I offer while he was at Murray State.

Of course, we have to keep in the back of our minds the success Williams’s older brother Jalen had at Santa Clara. While much less probable was Williams to follow the mid-major path of his brother, Greg Youncofski put in a lot of leg work for Loyola-Marymount.

This recruitment remains very close to the vest. However, sources indicate that as of pressing ‘publish’ on this piece, this is a two-team race between Colorado and LSU. Things are coming to an end here for Williams as he is expected to sign during the early signing period (starts Nov. 9). Recruiting can change at a moment’s notice, but intel suggests that over the last couple of weeks, there has been a growing confidence within the LSU offices.

(Tuesday Morning Update)

As intel continues to flow in, do not count out Colorado on this one. Sources indicate that there is a lot of confidence coming out of Boulder. In fact, as of this Tuesday morning update, intel suggests giving a slight edge to the Buffaloes.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine

Intel suggests a Cody Williams commitment is imminent. He listed his final four schools as Southern California, Arizona, Colorado, and LSU.

As of this writing, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) gives Colorado an 86.2 percent chance of landing the four-star small forward.

The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. Starting from the ground up, On3 built an entirely new product that utilizes data, human expertise, and machine learning.

Scouting report

Cody Williams has great length with broad shoulders and a very projectable frame. He has great instincts, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He is aggressive and instinctive in the passing lanes. Williams needs strength; with the added strength, more explosion could come. Offensively, he has some tools across the board. A solid straight-line driver in the half-court. Would like to see him tighten the handle and straighten up the jump shot. With the added strength, more efficiency could come. The younger brother of 2022 lottery pick Jalen Williams.