Syracuse Basketball: More national accolades for five-star Benny Williams

As we’ve said for a while now, Syracuse basketball doesn’t have a big 2021 class, but with five-star commit Benny Williams, the Orange has made up for a lack of quantity with a significant dose of quality.

Williams is a 6-foot-8 forward ranked as high as No. 15 nationally in the 2021 class, according to recruiting service Rivals.com. He is having a terrific senior campaign for the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

SI All-American has unveiled 50 finalists for its three All-American teams, with each squad ultimately having five players on it. Per this article, the 50 finalists consist of 45 seniors from the 2021 cycle, as well as five underclassmen.

Williams, the sole commit for the ‘Cuse in its 2021 class, has made the cut of the finalists for the three SI All-American teams. Those three groups are expected to be named in April, along with the SI All-American Player of the Year.

Syracuse basketball 2021 five-star commit Benny Williams is a finalist for the SI All-American units.

Let’s give a huge congratulation to Williams and the other finalists. By the way, there are two other names on the list of 50 finalists whom Orange fans may remember.

One is 2021 four-star power forward Arthur Kaluma, a former ‘Cuse target who suits up for the Dream City Christian School in Glendale, Ariz. Kaluma has committed to UNLV.

The second is 2021 five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler, who had received a scholarship offer from the Orange and competes for the Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan. Chandler is headed to Tennessee.

Getting back to Williams, we’ve detailed several times of late how he continues to work hard on his craft, according to comments made by national recruiting analysts as well as Williams’ head coach at the IMG Academy.

Jason Jordan, the director of basketball recruiting for Sports Illustrated, echoed those sentiments in providing some insights on Williams to Mike McAllister, the publisher of SyracuseOnSI.

"Jordan said in part regarding Williams, “What I really liked about him is the growth in his game across the board. Covid really showed who’s going to work for it and who’s going to say, ‘oh man I didn’t have any competition’ or ‘I couldn’t get in this tournament.’ What I’ve learned is that the elite guys have really found what it means to go out and work on their game. How beneficial that has been. He’s obviously one of the guys that has done that. I just really like how he’s a do it all guy, yes, but I feel like as a playmaker, he’s grown substantially.”"