Syracuse Basketball: Benny Williams nears five stars on composite

Syracuse basketball 2021 commit Benny Williams continues to climb up the national ratings.

A few weeks back, we prognosticated that Syracuse basketball 2021 commit Benny Williams will end up as a five-star prospect by all the primary recruiting services when all is said and done.

While nothing is ever a guarantee, that prognostication is looking fairly solid at this juncture for the senior at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

The 6-foot-8 Williams, listed as either a small forward or a power forward depending on the recruiting Web site, has moved from No. 31 to No. 26 overall according to the 247Sports Composite’s national rankings for the 2021 cycle.

In this recent piece, 247Sports editor/database manager Chad Carson notes that Manny Obaseki, a 2021 shooting guard and Texas A&M commit, is a new five-star player via the 247Sports Composite, as he is No. 24 in these ratings.

With Williams only two placements away from Obaseki, I’d say that the Orange commit is absolutely trending toward five-star status from the 247Sports Composite.

Williams is four stars and No. 27 at ESPN, and he’s arranged at No. 37 from the 247Sports recruiting service itself. Prep Hoops has Williams at No. 35 nationally within the 2021 class, while he is five stars and No. 22 overall per Rivals.com.

Syracuse basketball 2021 commit Benny Williams heading toward five stars universally.

A top-10 prospect at both his position and in the state of Florida for the 2021 cycle, Williams is competing at an extremely high level for the IMG Academy, which is one of the top prep-school programs in the country.

At the inaugural Sunshine Prep Showcase, hosted by the IMG Academy in mid-December, Williams fared quite well, according to Rob Cassidy, a national analyst for Rivals.com.

"Cassidy deemed Williams as the “best prospect” at this event, writing in part that the “well-rounded wing does so many things so well that it becomes difficult to nail down his most impressive trait. Williams is a freak athlete and finishes consistently at the basket, but his passing was striking on Wednesday. Williams threw a number of passes that turned heads and set teammates up at the rim while limiting turnovers and shooting the ball from outside relatively well. It was a well-rounded effort from the Syracuse commit, who carries a five-star banking for a reason.”"

Orange fanatics, myself included, cannot wait to see Williams in a ‘Cuse uniform, and he will arrive on the Hill as one of the team’s highest-rated recruits in recent memory.