Syracuse Basketball: Benny Williams to IMG can help with Jarace Walker

Syracuse basketball commit Benny Williams is heading to IMG, the same program attended by 5-star target Jarace Walker.

The IMG Academy is one of the top prep programs in the country, and this fall it will include Syracuse basketball 2022 target Jarace Walker, as well as Orange 2021 commit Benny Williams.

Williams, a four-star small forward and top-50 player nationally in his class according to several recruiting services, recently said on Twitter that he will transfer from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Md., to the “prep team” at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Mike Waters of Syracuse.com noted in a piece that Williams is going to the IMG Academy for his senior stanza “due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic’s potential impact on the 2020-21 season.” Waters quoted Williams’ father, Ben, in his article.

As context, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is part of the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference, which recently announced that its upcoming basketball campaign and other winter sports would run in an abbreviated format from January to mid-February.

https://twitter.com/_bennywilliams/status/1293370440602329088

“The impact of the coronavirus was pretty much the major factor,” Ben Williams told Syracuse.com. “They had pushed back the season until January. We had concerns about the lack of access to resources and facilities if they ended up closing schools to students.”

Syracuse basketball commit Benny Williams and Orange target Jarace Walker will both reside at the IMG Academy this fall.

In 2019, the IMG Academy captured its first men’s basketball national championship in program history. It’s important to note here that the IMG Academy has a national team, a varsity squad, a post-graduate crew and other groups.

I’m not entirely sure whether Benny Williams and Walker will suit up for the same exact unit, however, it could possibly help the chances of Syracuse basketball landing Walker now that ‘Cuse commit Williams is also at the IMG Academy.

Regardless of Williams’ new high-school destination, the Orange will face a steep climb to secure Walker, a 2022 five-star small forward who is deemed by the primary recruiting services as a top-10 prospect overall in his class.

Syracuse basketball proved one of the first to offer a scholarship to the 6-foot-6 Walker, but his list of high-major offers continues to grow.

At the end of June, a 247Sports story seemed to indicate that Virginia Tech, Michigan and Maryland had stood out the most to Walker at that time, but his recruiting process should extend on for a while, so things could change.

Hopefully, though, while they are at the IMG Academy together, Williams will get in Walker’s ear about joining him on the Hill down the road.