INTEL: Ranking the contenders for four-star Devin Williams

Devin Williams is On3’s No. 25 player in its 2023 rankings. The 6-foot-10 center is a lengthy post player with explosive pop, perimeter skills, and excellent lateral movement. 

The Corona (CA) Centennial center played in April with Team Why Not on Nike’s EYBL Circuit. He played in July with the Compton Magic on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit.

Williams announced on August 19, through On3’s Joe Tipton, that he was down to a final two schools; UCLA and Southern California. The four-star will announce his commitment on August 28.

With an expert pick placed into On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), let’s go through all the intel as we rank the contenders.

1. UCLA

Williams took his official visit to UCLA last week, August 16. Heading into the visit, there were questions from Williams about how he would fit with Mick Cronin, who typically likes his bigs with their back to the basket. 

UCLA’s chances: 90 percent

2. Southern California

USC has been recruiting Williams since he was in high school. There is a positional fit as head coach Andy Enfield loves the rangy bigs who can move, run, and jump. The Trojans were Williams’s first official visit in June. 

USC’s chances: 10 percent

Final intel

While USC has been in there the longest with Williams, UCLA showed Williams he was a priority. Southern California is still in the mix for four-star Arrinten Page and other top-100 type centers.

The visit was good for Williams as the Bruins answered questions about how Williams will be used on the team. At Cincinnati, Mick Cronin typically had a skilled and/or rangy big on the floor, guys like Gary Clark, Kyle Washington, Octavious Ellis, Shaq Thomas, Justin Jackson, etc. He would not have needed to dig too deep to find clips of similar players.

Recent UCLA players Jules Bernard, Johnny Juzang, Jaylen Clark, Jalen Hill, Jaylen Hands, and Dylan Andrews each came from the Compton Magic program Williams finished the summer with.

While the plan was always for Devin Williams to commit after his UCLA visit, anytime a date is announced shortly after an official visit, that can be a tell-tell sign. 

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine

I have placed my expert pick in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) for Devin Williams to choose UCLA. I set my pick with a 75 confidence rating.

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.