Syracuse Basketball: 5-star Benny Williams lands Spalding national honor

Syracuse basketball 2021 commit Benny Williams had a stellar senior season for the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and as a result, he has picked some national recognition for his accomplishments.

Via its Twitter page, Spalding has disclosed its All-American squads for members of the 2021 recruiting cycle. There are 10 players on the first team, 10 on the second team, and five on the third team, along with 11 guys who received an honorable-mention nod.

The 6-foot-8 Williams, a five-star forward who is ranked as high as No. 15 nationally in his class by Rivals.com, is one of the 2021 prospects in the honorable-mention category.

Now, while I believe that Williams should reside on one of the three groups, even making the honorable-mention cut puts him among the top-36 players around the country in this cycle. A big congratulation goes out to Williams and the rest of the Spalding honorees.

Syracuse basketball elite 2021 recruit Benny Williams is among the best in his class.

Williams isn’t the only 2021 high-school player honored by Spalding whom ‘Cuse fans may recognize one way or another.

On the All-American first team is Kennedy Chandler, a senior at the Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan. The 2021 five-star point guard, an Orange recruiting target for a period of time, has committed to Tennessee.

Meanwhile, included on the Spalding All-American second squad is A.J. Griffin, a senior at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y.

Griffin is a five-star small forward in the 2021 cycle who has committed to playing at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference unit Duke. Griffin is also the younger brother of former Syracuse basketball junior forward Alan Griffin, who recently said that he would enter into the NBA Draft.

Getting back to Williams, he is pretty much universally deemed a top-40 prospect in the 2021 class, according to the primary recruiting services.

Besides Rivals.com, Williams is No. 37 overall in the final national ratings from 247Sports. He is also No. 30 nationwide per ESPN, as well as No. 26 overall from the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

I can’t wait for Williams to don an Orange uniform. During his senior stanza with the IMG Academy, he played for one of the top prep-school teams in the country.

That he fared so well at the IMG Academy is quite encouraging as Williams gets set to soon embark on what should be a successful collegiate career in Central New York.