All-American Bowl journal: Notre Dame WR Cam Williams on first few days in San Antonio

Throughout the week at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard South wide receiver and Notre Dame signee Cam Williams shares his thoughts and experiences of taking part in the prestigious postseason all-star game with Blue & Gold.

Unfortunately, Williams’ participation in football activities was cut short Wednesday afternoon when he suffered a minor leg injury that will keep him out of the game. The On3 Industry Ranking five-star will be back to 100 percent in a couple weeks, but there was no point in risking anything for the all-star game.

Below are a few of his thoughts after a few days in San Antonio.

Williams on the injury: “I’m definitely bummed. I was more than excited to perform on a highly recognized stage to play the sport I love, but I still can’t wait to watch and be a part of it as much as I can.”

On what the players got to do Thursday: “We just had lots of free time which was great to be able to catch up on rest and for me to get to ice and take care of my knee.”

On his favorite part of the week in San Antonio: “Just getting close with the guys here. It’s been by far one of my favorite events I’ve been a part of in terms of meeting people. I’ve been around the Notre Dame guys a lot as well.”

On the non-ND players he’s been hanging out with: “Guys i’ve gotten tight with are Gatlin Bair (uncommitted wide receiver), Derek Weisskopf (Iowa linebacker signee) and Carter Nelson (Nebraska tight end signee).”

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On Dec. 20, Williams, who ranks as the nation’s No. 29 player and No. 9 wide receiver per the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking, went from a commit of 18 months to a Fighting Irish signee. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was excited to talk about Williams during his signing day press conference.

“The thing that attracted us to Cam was his speed,” said Freeman. “When we’ve said — ‘Hey, we need to address speed’ — we want to continue to enhance our speed on the outside on both sides of the ball. That was a thing with Cam.”

“We saw him multiple times run 4.4s. We had him in camp. We had him live. He is a tremendous player that’s from Chicago. We have to make sure that the best players in Chicago that fit this place continue to come to Notre Dame. That was the case with Cam.”

Previewing Notre Dame recruits in the All-American Bowl

All-American Bowl week for Notre Dame’s 2024 class is here.

On Monday, the players set to compete in the premier postseason all-star game arrived in San Antonio, Texas. The All-American recruits will practice Tuesday-Friday ahead of the contest which will air on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.

Notre Dame had 11 signees in the game in 2022 and had five in it last year but it would’ve been more if not for injuries. And the Irish have three players in the game Saturday.

Saline (Mich.) High quarterback CJ Carr was invited to the game but opted to participate in Notre Dame’s bowl game practices rather than in the prestigious all-star event. And West Roxbury (Mass.) Catholic Memorial offensive tackle Guerby Lambert suffered a minor knee sprain in late November. Lambert will actually be in San Antonio later this week but will not participate in the game.

And Williams would have been playing in the contest if not for his mid-week injury.

Blue & Gold is in the Lone Star State to report on the following Irish signees who will play in the All-American Bowl: Lufkin (Texas) High running back Kedren Young, Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Charlotte (N.C.) Christian EDGE Bryce Young.

On the West team, Viliamu-Asa will rock No. 27. For the East squad, Bryce Young will have the No. 97 jersey and Kedren Young (no relation) will wear No. 3.